Commonwealth Tales
by QuietStoryKeeper
Summary: The Commonwealth is an unforgiving place, filled with monsters of all stripes. But from this wasteland stories emerge. Tales of bravery, sacrifice, good, and evil. While we are all familiar with the tale of the Sole Survivor and his adventures; there are other tales that deserve to be told. So gather round the fire and listen, for I have a tale to tell.
1. Boogeyman

Pain, it was the first thing she felt as she began to wake up. It had been the only thing she had felt for weeks. Every time she slept she prayed she'd wake up in her own bed and that this whole thing was just a nightmare. But no, it was real. The pain constantly reminded her of that. Groaning, she rose from the pile of thin rags that was her 'bed.' She tried to stand, but halfway up her legs collapsed beneath her. Instead, she propped herself against the wall of her cell and stared at the ground.

'Why?' She had thought this many times since her captivity began. The answer was always the same. Her parents were raiders, she was a raider, her friends had been raiders, and her captives were raiders; this was the life they had chosen. It hadn't been an easy life but it had been good. Steal food here, kidnap a settler there, and every once in a while, kill someone stupid enough to try and stop them. Sometimes she had felt guilty, but she always excused it. It wasn't personal, it was just survival, us or them.

'How?' The word echoed in her mind. What had gone so wrong? She still remembered the day clearly. It was supposed to be a simple raid on a mutfruit farm. It was a sort of birthday present from her fellow raiders. She loved mutfruit and had regularly eaten through their supply them. The present, however, soured. While their gang was raiding the farm and another gang ambushed them, taking them completely by surprise. Everyone she knew was cut down all around her until she was the only one. The leader of the rival gang, called Slash, decided to take her prisoner after she begged for her life. In retrospect, she wished they had shot her.

She shuddered as she remembered those first days of captivity. Slash was an appropriate name. Cutting was his favorite form of torture and he practiced it liberally on her. The other raiders laughed as they watched, taunting and insulting her as she screamed in pain.

A shot of pain ripped her into the present. She had only slightly shifted her position, but her numerous cuts made even this small movement painful. She had stopped keeping track of all her wounds long ago. There were too many now. Her eyes wandered around her prison. This raider gang had chosen one of the hundreds of abandoned buildings in Boston as there base. She wasn't sure what the building had been before, all she knew was her prison cell was a dirty, grimy bathroom. It hadn't taken long for the dirt and the grime to spread to her. She didn't bother trying to clean herself. Even if she had water to do so the dirt and stench would be back quickly. She had gotten used to the dirt and smell, but not the darkness. There were no windows, so there was no light, except what crept under the door.

A noise, footsteps, someone was coming. She began to tremble as the key entered the lock. The door opened to reveal her jailer, a raider named Gore.

"Come one, Red, the boss wants ya." Red, that was her nickname, because of her hair. It wasn't her real name. Not that it mattered. Nothing really mattered now.

Still trembling, she managed to get to her feet and stumble out the door, followed closely by Gore. He didn't need to tell her where to go, she knew. First, through the common room where the low-rank raiders ate and slept. Then, down a hallway with several doors leading to rooms where higher ranked raiders stayed. At the end of the hall, there was an imposing black door: Slash's room.

Once, she would have tried to fight but not anymore. Even if she did, they would only beat and punish her, not that they had ever needed an excuse. Whenever Slash was done with her the other raiders had their fun. Beatings and insults were the most common form of 'entertainment,' but they weren't the worst by far. The only things they couldn't do were kill her or damage her face. Slash had made those rules clear.

When they reached the end of the hall Gore opened the door and motioned for her to enter. Once she did he shut the door behind her. The room was dark, lit only by a few candles and what little light managed to creep through the closed shades on the windows. The room was fairly empty, with only a few pieces of furniture and discarded junk items. At the far end was a bed and sitting on it was Slash.

Red had heard old-world stories about a man called 'Boogey' that lived before the bombs fell. The stories always had him scaring children by hiding in their closets or under their beds. The stories never said what he looked like but Red had always pictured him as tall, unnaturally thin, and with sunken black pits for eyes. Slash was that picture given form, except he was real and much worse. In his hand, he held his favorite knife. Three inches of cold, cutting steel, and always covered in blood.

"Sleep well?" he asked. Red silently nodded."Good." Slash stood from his bed and toward her. "Because we have lots to do today and want to be finished before the day's over." He towered over her, playing with her red hair with his knife. Then he pressed the blade to her shoulder, hard enough to draw blood. Red winced, but remained silent. "Take your shirt off, we don't want to get blood on it, do we?" He smiled, amused with himself. Mentally bracing herself for what was coming next, she began to remove her shirt as ordered.

An explosion shook the building, making both of them stumble. "What in the world!?" Slash yelled. Gunfire erupted outside the room, followed by screams. Slashed sprinted from the room, knocking Red to the ground. Momentarily stunned, she sat there, listening to the gunfire. Mostly she heard the sound of pipe rifles firing rapidly. There was another sound, a gunshot, louder than the others, probably higher caliber. She heard it less frequently, but it was almost always followed by a raider scream.

Curiosity began to prod her to leave the room, to have a look. At first, she froze, Slash would be mad if he caught her, he would punish her. The gunfire was as unabating as her curiosity. Soon it won out over her fear and she slowly crawled out of the room on all fours. It took only a few seconds for her to reach the other end of the hall but it felt like hours. Once she reached the end of the hall the scope of the chaos shocked her.

Half of a wall had been blown to shreds. Wood and furniture were scattered everywhere. Red continued, crawling over several raider bodies that were laying on the ground, including Gore, who was covered in shrapnel wounds. When she reached the hole in the wall she winced and covered her eyes. She had been a prisoner so long she was unused to natural sunlight. Through the pain, she uncovered her eyes and forced them open.

Outside was pure chaos. Raider bodies were everywhere. Those still living had found cover wherever they could. Slash was behind the husk of an old car, shouting orders to his men and periodically popping up from cover to fire a round from his pipe revolver. Down the street about 40 feet, she saw a figure sprint from a ruined building to a destroyed car. Then the figure popped up and fired. A raider's head exploded. She heard Slash curse and yell at his men.

"Keep up the fire! Don't give him a chance to shoot back!"

Red could hear something in his voice she had never heard before: fear. For the first time in months, she felt hope. Hope that the nightmare might soon be over. Her first instinct told her to run, but she knew in her condition she wouldn't get far. Her eyes darted around, looking for another option. Just a few feet away, she saw what she was looking for: a pipe pistol dropped from a dead raider and still loaded. As quietly as she could, she made her way to the pistol. She made it, grabbing the pistol and moving to a pile of debris for cover. Carefully, she peeked over her cover to see if anyone had noticed her, no one had. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at the back of the nearest raider.

Bang.

Her trembling hand made the shot go high, missing her target completely. She swore, but thankfully in the chaos, no one noticed. Taking another deep breath she aimed again.

Bang.

The raider screamed and collapsed, clutching his back. A smile crept onto her face, the first on in a long time. She aimed again.

Bang.

Another scream, another raider fell. This time she was noticed.

"What the..?" A raider turned and saw her. "Why you little..."

Red fired again. The shot missed but raider jumped from cover to avoid a second shot from her. As soon as he left cover a shot from the figure down the street tore through the raider's side. Now Slash noticed her.

"Shoot her!" He screamed firing several rounds at her.

Red ducked, narrowly missing the barrage of gunfire. Fear began to creep back into her. She was outnumbered, outgunned, and weak from her captivity. She began to imagine what torture Slash would inflict on her for killing his men. Whatever it was would be long and excruciatingly painful. The trembling came back, she dropped the gun and wrapped her arms around herself. Closing her eyes, hoping it would all be over soon.

Another scream. More gunshots, but closer. Although everything in her body told her not to, she forced herself to peek out of cover to see what was going on. Whilst the raiders had been distracted by her, the figure had rushed their positions. Now less than ten feet away, the figure had a raider skewered on a sword and, using the body as a shield, fired at the remaining raiders with a 10mm pistol until the magazine was empty. Once they heard the 'click' of an empty gun, two raiders rushed forward with tire irons, intent on clubbing the stranger to death. The figure removed his sword from the corpse and charged the attackers. Deftly the figure parried the first strike and slashed the raider across the chest. The second raider didn't get a chance to swing before being decapitated.

Slash, seeing he was running out of men, dashed for a ruined building across the road. Probably, Red guessed, trying to make an escape.

"Hey!" his last man shouted. "Come back here you-gah!" The figure stabbed him through the chest. Slash made it to the building and dove into cover. He stood up and aimed and the now exposed attacker.

At that moment two things happened. First, Slash's revolver 'clicked.' Empty. Second, something landed a few feet from him. Slash looked down. A grenade.

"Sh-" He ducked. The grenade exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.

The ruined building trembled at the explosion. Then, with a groan, part of the roof fell in, on top of Slash, burying him.

'He's… he's gone.' she couldn't believe it. After all that he did to her, he was dead, just like that. She turned her attention to the figure, whom she now had a clear view off.

Large dark-brown trench coat, black body armor underneath, a dark-brown helmet and mask that covered the face. A holstered pistol at his hip, a rifle slung on his back, and a Chinese sword in hand. It was an imposing figure. A figure, whose attention was now squarely on her. She began to tremble again. He took a step toward her sword still in hand. Red stood up and raised her hands, showing she had no weapon. The figure sheathed his sword but continued toward her.

"P-Please…" It was the only word she could manage. While she was a prisoner speaking only earned her a beating. Now she found it hard to find the words she needed.

The figure stopped only half a step away. The masks tinted glass visor kept her from seeing the figure's eyes, but she could feel the gaze. For several seconds they stood there, looking at each other. Finally, the figure spoke.  
"Who are you?" It was a male voice, but something was off about it.

"Red. I-I was their prisoner."

"I see." The voice was flat, unemotional. He pulled a stimpack from inside his coat as he stepped forward. Red winced as the needle entered her body. "You need medical attention." The stranger continued as he placed the used up stimpack back inside his coat. "I can take you to Diamond City; they can treat you there." He turned away from her and began rummaging through a nearby corpse. Pulling out a few caps and bullets before moving on to the next one. Red just stared. Was she really free? After all this time, she was free? The man continued to loot raider bodies until he had gone through them all. He then stood up and turned back toward her. "Can you walk?" He asked in his neutral voice. Red nodded and stepped toward him, but only made it a few steps before crumbling to the ground. "Hm." The stranger unslung his rifle and knelt beside her. "I can carry you on my back. It's not too far."

"Who are you?" She asked as she climbed onto his back.

"They call me Teutonic."

"Teutonic? That's not a name."

"It isn't?" The question caught her by surprise.

"No."

"Hm."

Red wasn't sure what to say to that, so she said nothing as he carried her on his back with a rifle in hand. Slowly she began to doze off as the stimpack began to take effect.

* * *

Red didn't remember much about the next few days. Most of it was spent in a room recovering and periodically being treated by Doc Sun. Slowly, her old energy came back and the scars began to disappear from her body. A week later she was given a clean bill of health and allowed to leave.

"Do I owe you anything, Doc?" She asked him as she stepped out.

"No, your friend covered my expenses. He's been in and out this past week, checking on you every time he was in town."

"Oh, okay. Where is he now?:

"I am sure I have no idea. Now I need to get back to work. Try and stay out of trouble please."

'Trouble, heh, if you only knew.' she thought to herself. If they knew she had been a raider. She doubted they would have let her in the city, much less treated her. She stepped out into the sun and took a deep breath. It was good to finally walk around again. Before now she had never been in Diamond City. Now that she had seen it, she could tell why it was called the Jewel of the Commonwealth. People could live and work here, safe and without the nagging fear of attack. In a world of deathclaws and ghouls, Diamond City was a safe haven. A crowded, loud, and dirty haven, but a haven nonetheless. As she headed toward the central marketplace she began to wonder, what would she do now? She hadn't a cap to her name and only clothes on her back; which, thankfully, were clean and new.

She could go back to being a raider. It was what she knew but, the idea didn't sit well with her. After going through all that; was she just going to back to what she did before? No, she couldn't. But what else could she do? Maybe mercenary work? Possibly, Now that she was recovered she could fight but the only mercenary group that did well was the Gunners. 'Raiders with better guns.' she had always thought to herself. There was no certainty that she could join either. They may just shoot her outright rather than recruit her. No, the Gunners were no good either.

The marketplace was a hub of activity. People buying and selling goods, some eating lunch. Through the mess of people she saw her rescuer. Sitting on a bench. He was still wearing the same outfit he had on when he saved her. As she watched she saw him manipulate his mask, causing it to lift slightly, before lifting a bowl of soup to the opening. After he finished with his soup pulled the mask back down to its original position. Through it all Red had been unable to see any of his face. After placing his bowl aside he walked over to pegboard just on the outskirts of the market, filled with small white papers tacked to it. Red walked over to him.

"Teutonic?"

He looked over his shoulder and acknowledged her with a nod. "You seem better." His voice was still the same neutral voice.

"I am."

He nodded again and turned his attention back to the board. Silence. Red awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other.

"I…" she trailed off.

"Yes?"

"I…" Why was this so hard? "Thank you." she finally forced it out. She wasn't used to thanking anyone. Raiders didn't do it much. Once again, Teutonic nodded.

"You're welcome." He plucked a paper from the board and pocketed it. Then he walked over to one of the store stalls. "Arturo, I need fifty .308 rounds and fifty 10mm."

"Sure man, one moment." As Arturo searched for the rounds Teutonic counted out the needed caps on the counter."Here you go." Arturo handed him a bag of rounds, taking the caps that had been placed on the counter. "Come back again."

Teutonic said nothing and walked away, with Red following beside him.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"North."

"To do what?"

"Hunt raiders."

Red stopped where she was."What?"

"Hunt raiders." he repeated not stopping. Red rushed to catch up with him.

"Why?"

"It's what I do." He pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to here as he continued toward the city gate. She read the paper.

_Raiders have set up shop somewhere near the Witchcraft Museum. No reward offered except any loot found and the good feeling of a job well done._

Red looked Teutonic, then the paper, then to him again. Hunting raiders. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. True, there was no love lost between raider gangs, but the thought of someone actively hunting them down unnerved her. She had been a raider, and he hunted down and killed people like her.

'People like her captors.'

Gears began to turn in her head. The thought of her captors and what they had done to her made her blood boil. She wanted to lash out, kill something. Like raiders. The pair reached the gate and Teutonic halted and motioned for the gatekeeper, Danny, to open the gate. As the aging metal gate groaned open, she spoke up.

"I'm coming with you."

Teutonic turned to face her. "You are?" although his voice remained dull neutral, she could hear a glimmer of something: curiosity? Confusion? She couldn't tell, but it was there.

"I am." she replied firmly.

"I see." Teutonic continued out of Diamond City and into Boston. Red was speechless, she had expected some sort of argument or protest. But he hadn't, he just continued on his way. She followed him out. After a few minutes of quiet, she spoke again.

"You didn't tell me your name." she said to him.

"I did. I said it was Teutonic."

Red shook her head. "That is not a name, it's a nonsense word. I can't call you that, it doesn't sound right."

"It doesn't?"

"Yes! It doesn't!" Now she was beginning to get annoyed with the way he talked.

"I see."

"Stop saying that! Say something different!"

"Okay."

Red gave an exasperated sigh. They continued in silence.

'This may not have been a good idea.' she thought to herself. 'He may be totally crazy.' For the next half hour neither said anything. The only sound to be heard was their own steps.

"Tue." she thought aloud.

"What?"

"I'm gonna call you Tue. It sounds a little better."

Silence. Perhaps he was thinking it over?

"I see."

"Stop saying that!" she almost shouted.

"Sorry."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for making it all the way through this chapter. I was inspired to write this story by the Tales from the Commonwealth mod for Fallout 4. It made me think, 'You know, what stories besides that of the Sole Survivor could be told?' I'm also trying to write this story like it could actually happen within the universe and canon of Fallout. If you see any errors or just have some writing advice don't hesitate to let me know. Feedback is important to becoming a better writer and, hopefully, making the story that much more enjoyable for you. Thanks.


	2. Nordhagen

Red was really beginning to regret her anything more than a few words out of Tue was liking trying to force a mole rat out of its den. It was not coming out unless it wanted to; and Tue did not want to. On top of that, he never seemed to tire. They had been walking for hours before the sun began to set. At which point, she assumed they would prepare camp for the night in some old building. Tue, however, kept on walking. Red didn't want to admit she was tired, but if they went much further she would have to swallow her pride and protest.

Suddenly, Tue turned sharply southward.

"Um, isn't the museum that way?" she pointed north.

"Yes."

"Than where are we going?"

"Nordhagen."

Red scratched the back of her head. It sounded like a settlement, but she had never heard of it. Then again, her gang had never operated in this area before. Surprisingly, Tue continued.

"We can get food, supplies, and rest there. They may have information as well."

This seemed too easy to Red. "Why would they help us?"

"I know someone."

"You.. know someone? You have a friend inside?"

"Yes."

'That's… surprising.' Tue didn't seem like the person to have friends. Especially given how unsociable he was with her. She couldn't imagine anyone actually being his friend.

It wasn't long before they reached a bridge stretching across a small expanse of water. At the end of the bridge was a wooden gate at least nine feet tall, with two guard posts flanking each side. Tue walked straight up to the gate and knocked hard on it. At first, nothing happened. Then an armed man appeared at each post, looking down at them. Instincts screamed at Red to reach for her pipe pistol, but she forced herself to remain calm

"Who are you and what do you want?" The guard on the left shouted. Before either of them could answer, the guard on the right spoke up.

"Hey! That's the Raider Slayer!"

"The Raider Slayer? I thought he didn't exist."

"Well, who else could that be?"

"I dunno, a strung-out jet-junky?"

"Heh, you're as thick as manure and only half as useful."

"Why don't you come over here and say that!"

"You think I won't? I'll take you right…"

Red couldn't stand it any longer. "Hey! You mind letting us in before half the Super Mutants in the Commonwealth hear you and decide to investigate?" Immediately, the two focused on her.

"Who's she?" Asked the guard on the left.

"No clue."

"Should we shoot her?"

"You can't just shoot random people who show up at the gate!"

"She might be a raider."

"Standing right next to the Raider Slayer? Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

Before they could continue, Tue spoke up. "She's traveling with me. Open the gate."

"Yes, sir." The man on the right disappeared. The guard on the left hesitated, his attention switching between Red and Tue briefly, before disappearing as well.

"I thought he'd be a bit taller."

"Shut up."

After a few moments the gate began to groaned open. Red leaned toward Tue.

"So… Raider Slayer. I didn't realize you were famous"

He shook his head. "I'm not."

As they stepped through the gate Red looked over the settlement. The first thing she noticed was that it was completely enclosed in wooden walls, ten feet tall, dotted with guard posts, and with barbed wire at the top. The central building, of the settlement was two stories tall and metal from top to bottom. Several wooden structures surrounded it. Mostly they appeared to be shacks for two or three people to live in. None of the buildings appeared to be pre-war structures. They were making their way toward the metal building when an older man, carrying an assault rifle stopped them.

He wore what appeared to be a collection of pre-war armor, raider scraps, and old leather, cobbled together to form something resembling body armor. The man, taller than either of them, briefly sized them up, then spoke to Tue in a gruff, weathered voice.

"I didn't expect to see you back, Slayer. Rumour had it you were dead." Tue shrugged. The man turned his attention to her. "And you are?"

"Red. Who are you?"

"Brandy, but most call me Sarge. I handle security." He turned back to Tue. "Gwen will want to see you, but I suppose you know that. You two staying for the night?"

"If possible." Tue replied.

"You can use the guest shack. The folks just started dinner, you're welcome to join."

Red's face lit up at the prospect of food. All the walking they had done made her hungry. Sarge seemed to notice her expression and called for one of the guards.

"Carl!"

"Sir?"

"Escort the lady to the dining hall."

"Yes sir. Come on Ms." He motioned for her to follow. Red looked at Tue, who nodded.

"I'll join you in a moment, I need to speak with Gwen first."

"Ok." Red followed the guard. As they walked together she couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Aside the time she was recovering in Diamond City, the only reason she was ever in a settlement was to raid. Being treated with anything other than contempt and hatred by settlers was a new thing for her. The settlers they walked past gave her curious looks, but other than that they simply nodded and continued on their way. She then turned her eyes to her escort, Carl. He seemed young, perhaps around her age, with brown hair and eyes. She decided to see if she could pry some information from him "I didn't realize there was a settlement here."

"Not surprising, we're a bit isolated here. Not to many traders come up this way, but not much trouble comes up either. Well, until recently."

"What's been going on recently?"

"Gunners, they set up shop nearby. Might cause problems. I wouldn't worry too much though, Gwen's smart, she'll figure out a solution."

'Gunners?' That didn't sound good. "Who's Gwen? Sarge mentioned her too"

"She's the mayor, and here's the dining hall." Carl halted at a long building with the sign 'Dining Hall' on the outside. "The guest shack where you'll be staying is that one there with the yellow door." He pointed it out to here. "Come on in, I'll introduce you to the cook." Carl opened the door and motioned for her to enter, which she did. As soon as they entered Red could smell the food and her mouth began to water. Carl stepped up to a counter, where a man was cutting up vegetables next to a large pot. "Hey, Fritz."

The man looked up. "Shouldn't you be on guard duty?"

"I am, Sarge just asked me to show the guest to the dining hall for some food."

"Guest? Didn't know we were getting any guests today." Fritz began to scoop stew out of the pot into a bowl.

"I didn't know either. Came in just a few moments ago with the Raider Slayer."

"He's back? Hm, started to think he finally bit the dust. Here you go." He handed her a full bowl of stew with a spoon and cup of water. "Enjoy."

"Thanks." She looked down at the stew. Meat and vegetables by the looks of it. She sat down at one of the empty tables.

"I should get back on guard duty." Carl told her.

"Ok, thanks for taking me here."

"No problem." Carl turned to leave, then turned back, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot "I hope you don't mind but, can I ask you a question?"

Red raised an eyebrow. "I guess."

"What are you doing with the Raider Slayer? From what I hear, he works alone, without a partner."

"Is that so? What else do you hear about him?" Perhaps she could learn something about Tue.

Carl smiled. "I heard he's the most dangerous man in the Commonwealth, that he's killed hundreds of raiders by himself." Red could see his excitement. "One time, he took down a raider boss in power armor with only a sword and that…" He stopped, eyes widening with realization. "Shoot, I gotta get back to my post before Sarge gets mad, bye." Carl bolted from the building at full speed, leaving Red alone at her table.

'How long has Tue been doing this?' She thought. 'He's got a whole freakin' legend about himself.' Red decided she could think about it later. Now, she had a stew to eat.

* * *

'Thump, thump, thump.'

"Door's unlocked." Gwen wondered who that could be. Everyone was usually eating right now and she wasn't expecting anyone. She stood up from her desk and moved toward the door as it opened.

"Gwen."

For a second, she froze, eyes locked with the man in her doorway. Then, she leapt forward, almost knocking him off his feet as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Alec! It's been forever since I've seen you!"

Alec/Tue awkwardly hugged back. "About a year, I think."

She didn't seem to hear him, but continued to speak in rapid fire."Rumors were spreading that you were dead. I didn't believe them. I knew you weren't dead. They was a good reason you weren't back. Of course I didn't know what, but I hoped you would be back soon, and now you're here so I was right and…" She stopped, pulling herself away and stepping back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to jump you like that."

"It's fine. I am happy to see you are well.

"Yes, I'm fine. Busy, but fine. How are you? Are you alright?"

"I am well." he began to rummage through a bag on his hip. "I was hoping you had some of my medicine ready." He pulled out several empty syringes. Gwen's eyes bulged.

"How long have you been out?"

"Two months."

Gwen darted to a nearby cupboard. "Yes, I have more." She pulled out several similar looking syringes. "I had some ready for when you came back."

Tue rolled up his sleeve past his elbow then, after taking one of the syringes, pressed it into his arm. Once a quarter of the fluid was used he pulled it out and placed it in his pouch along with the others she handed him.

"You're supposed to use all of it." She told him.

"Have to ration. Never know when I'll get more."

She sighed. "You'll never get better like that."

"I know, but it will keep me going."

"Why don't you stay here?"

"We've had this discussion."

"I know, but, with treatment, we may be able to help your…" she paused, thinking of the right word. "...condition."

"Maybe, but it would take years. I can't wait that long."

Gwen sighed. They had the same discussion before he left a year ago and he had given the same short responses he gave in every situation. At times, it was definitely frustrating. She turned back toward her desk to grab something. As she did, the movement caused a curtain in a window to sway slightly, causing the evening sun to peer into the room. The rays landed on Tue's open skin, causing him to cry out in pain and grab his arm. When Gwen heard him to whirled around and rushed to his side.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean…"

"It's fine, it was an accident." He removed his hand from his arm to inspect it. The skin had begun to turn red, but hadn't burned. He rolled down his sleeve, covering the skin once more. Gwen, careful not to disturb the curtains returned to her desk and grabbed some items from a drawer.

"I had a few of these made for you as well." She held them out to him. Filters for his mask.

"Thank you." He took them and placed them in another pouch. "I was running out of these as well."

"How long can you go without?"

"Brief periods. Enough for repairs and food, but not much longer."

"That's better than before."

"A little." Alec reached into his coat, pulled the paper he had taken at Diamond City, and handed it to her. "I recognized your handwriting."

Gwen looked at it and nodded. "I sent it down a month ago with the traders. Unfortunately, the situation is even worse."

"How so?"

"The raiders were wiped out by gunners. Recently, Sarge has noticed gunner scouts poking around nearby." Gwen massaged her head. "Sarge thinks they plan to attack."

"He's right. They will probably attack within a few days of sending scouts. How long ago did he notice the scouts?"

"Three days ago."

Alec considered the information. "Then they will probably attack tomorrow."

"What! How do you know?"

"Usually, gunners will take three days to scout a location they will attack. If they haven't attacked yet, than tomorrow will most likely be the day they attack."

To her credit, Gwen recovered from her shock quickly. "I need to find Sarge." She rushed past Alec. "We need to plan. You're coming too."

* * *

Red leaned back in her chair and gave a satisfied sigh. The stew was excellent, much better than anything she had eaten as a raider. Raider food mostly consisted of whatever had been scavenged that morning. It was not exactly an appetizing food.

Most of the people in the dining hall had left, while some remained behind to talk with each other. Red, however, was by herself, with no one to talk to. Even if Tue had been there, she doubted she could've gotten much out of him. Besides, she was feeling tired. Now would be a good time to get some sleep.

Just as she rose from her chair, a man burst into the hall. He looked around, obviously looking for something. When he locked eyes with her, he rushed to her table.

"Are you Red?" He asked.

"Ya, why?"

"Raider Slayer wants you in the town hall."

"What for?"

"I dunno, but the mayor and Sarge are there too, so it's probably important."

"I'm guessing the town hall is the big metal building, right.?"

"Yep."

'So much for sleep.' She thought. Red made her way to the town hall at a brisk pace. She was too full to run. When she got there, she saw Tue, Sarge, and woman who she presumed was the mayor, surrounding a small table in the center of the hall, looking intently at what appeared to be a large piece of paper. As she walked up to the table, she realized it was a crudely drawn map of what appeared to be Nordhagen and the surrounding area.

"You wanted to see me?"

He nodded his acknowledgement, but continued to pour over the map. The woman looked at her with a confused expression. "Who is she?"

"Red." He said nothing else. Silence.

The mayor spoke again. "Ok, but who she?"

"Red." He repeated. Again, silence filled the air. This time, Tue appeared to notice it and he looked up from the table and noticed all eyes were on him. "What?"

Sarge spoke up this time. "You're not really answering the question."

"I'm not?"

"No, you're not" Red answered. She turned to the woman. "You must be the mayor, Gwen. I was a prisoner of a gang he killed. Now, I am killing raiders with him."

"I see." Something about Gwen's tone made Red wonder if she said something wrong.

"Is there a problem?" She asked

"No." Gwen stepped back toward the table, looking at Tue. "I'm just surprised Alec was traveling with somebody. He usually doesn't work with others."

"So I've heard. I admit, his social skills don't exactly…" Red paused and replayed what Gwen just said in her head. "Wait, did you call him Alec?"

"Of course, that's his name."

Red gave Alec an incredulous look. "Why did you tell me your name was Teutonic?"

"Teutonic?" It was Gwen's turn to give him an incredulous look. "Is that the name you decided to go with?" She rolled her eyes and smiled, amused. "I told you that wasn't a name, it's just a nonsense old world word you found in some half-burned book."

Alec shrugged. "I liked it." He turned his gaze to Red. "Sorry, I went by that name for almost a year. Became a habit."

"We can talk about names later." Sarge interjected. "Perhaps we should return to what's important? Like the gunners who are planning on murdering us all?"

Gwen nodded her agreement "Of course."

"The guard mentioned gunners where in the area. Are those the 'raiders' we're hunting?"

Alec shook his head. "No, they're dead. We're fighting gunners now."

"Not that we have much of a choice." Sarge interjected. "If Slayer is right, they're coming for us." He tapped on the map. "The east gate via the bridge is the only way inside from the mainland. They'll probably hit us there. We should focus most of our efforts protecting it."

"No."

Sarge looked up at Alec, eyebrow raised. "No?"

"No, they'll attack the gate; but the main push will be from the north." He pointed to a stretch of beach that connected to the northern end of the Nordhagen, creating a land bridge from the mainland to the settlement in the shape of an upside down 'L'.

"There's no gate on that wall. Why would they attack there?"

"A team of gunners large enough to attack a settlement will undoubtedly have a demolitions expert, probably armed with a rocket launcher."

Red inhaled nervously. As a raider, she never experienced that kind of firepower first-hand; but she had heard stories and none of them good. "Those wooden walls won't stand a chance."

"Indeed." Sarge's face was grim. "I can have Mad Monty scrap a few mines together, but that won't stop them."

"It won't need to. Gunners may have a basic grasp of tactics, but their not much smarter than raiders." Alec said as he continued to stare at the map. Red felt mildly insulted at the statement, but held her tongue.

"Do you have something in mind?" Gwen asked.

"Have a few men guard the gate. The rest will remain in cover well behind the north wall. When gunners break through. They'll be caught in the open, shot to pieces by the guards." Everyone nodded. It was a good plan. Not that any of them had a better one to compare it with.

"How many gunners will be involved in this attack?" Sarge asked.

"20 at least, but 30 is more likely. Gunner's don't attack unless the odds are heavily in their favor."

Gwen massaged her forehead. "We have only six guards."

"I can have a few more people armed. But we only have enough supplies to properly outfit three more, the rest will be fighting with whatever else can be scraped together." Sarge shook his head. "We're talking rusty pipe pistols and baseball bats."

"It will be enough." Alec responded as he rose from his hunched position over the table.

"If you say so." She told him. "But if you saved my life only to get me killed here. I will haunt you to the grave."

Gwen chuckled nervously while Alec looked up at Red "You will?" Although it was hard to tell with his monotone voice; Red was certain she heard a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yes. I will." She responded.

"I see."

Before Red could respond in frustration, Gwen spoke up. "We should get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Everyone agreed, silently ending the meeting. Red, along with Alec, made their way to the guest shack. As they walked, something about the meeting bugged Red. The way Gwen had said, 'he usually doesn't work with others' stuck out to here. She didn't appear to be lying, but she sounded worried. She also sounded like she wasn't telling the whole truth.

Red also wondered why she was part of the meeting. It made sense for everyone else to be there except her. Yet, apparently, Alec wanted her there.

'The more I'm around this guy, the more questions I have.'


	3. Siege

"You're not going to take your armor off before you go to sleep?" Red asked as she laid down on her bed.

"No." Alec laid flat on his bed, removing only the weapons he carried.

"That can't be comfortable."

"It isn't"

"Then why not take it off?"

"I have my reasons." Alec said nothing more, in spite of a few more attempts by Red. Resigned to the fact she wasn't going to get anything else out of him, she dozed off.

* * *

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Footsteps. She could hear them behind her. No matter how fast she ran, the steady thump of footsteps were close behind. She didn't dare look back. She didn't want to know what was chasing her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Run. Run. Don't stop. Run. As she ran she could see corpses strewn across the landscape. Corpses. Corpses of what used to be her friends. They were everywhere. Their eyes stared up at her accusingly as she ran. Ahead of her she could see more corpses; but these were standing up, a walking toward her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The steps were getting closer. She had nowhere to run. The corpses where reaching out. Trying to grab her. Just as there rotted hands were about to touch her the thumping stopped and she screamed.

* * *

Red shot awake. Sweat covered her entire body. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to calm herself down.

'A dream, just a bad dream.' She continued to repeat it to herself. Eventually, her heart beat slowed and she felt calm enough to step out of bed. As she did she looked to Alec's bed. Empty. Once she had dressed herself she stepped outside and looked around. A thick fog and a dark mood had settled over the settlement. People moved about armed and everyone she saw had the same grim expression.

"You're awake."

Red jumped at the voice and whirled to her left. Alec was leaning against shack, staring into the fog.

"Sheesh. Yes I'm awake."

"Good." Alec casually tossed something toward her. Once she caught it she saw it was a mutfruit. "Come with me." Alec started walking in the direction of the gate. Red followed, munching on the fruit as she walked. "The Gunners will probably attack as soon as the fog lifts."

"Why not attack in the fog?" She asked in between bites. "The fog would make good cover for an attack."

"True, but it's good cover for a defense as well."

She thought about that for a moment, then nodded her head. "If we can't see them, they can't see us."

"Correct." Once they reached the gate Alec walked up one of the guard posts and surveyed the landscape. For a few minutes, the only noise was Red standing beside him, finishing her mutfruit. She wiped the remaining juices off on her clothes and looked out into the fog. She could only see a few feet in front of them. She looked back at Alec. He hadn't moved or spoken since they reached the post and the silence was getting unbearable. After several more minutes she couldn't take it anymore; but just as she opened her mouth to speak, Alec interrupted.

"If you are going to survive, you must learn to be patient."

"What?"

"You easily become impatient and frustrated."

"I… what are you talking about?"

Alec turned toward her. "You."

Slowly, the pieces fell into place. "This was a test?"

"Yes."

Red suddenly felt a bit ashamed. If this was a test, she had just failed. Alec continued.

"You must be patient when fighting raiders."

"I understand."

"Good." Alec returned his gaze back to the outskirts of Nordhagen while Red mulled over the moment in her head.

Something stuck out to her about her whole situation. He had called it a test. He was teaching her like she was a student. As she continued to think it over she decided to voice a question.

"Why are letting me tag along with you?"

"You told me you were coming with me."

Red rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you seem like a loner to me and Gwen even said you usually work by yourself." Alec turned back toward her as she continued. "You wanted me present at the meeting to plan the defense and you brought me here to teach me something. Why?"

Alec seemed to consider the question. Although she couldn't see his eyes, she could feel him looking down at her. It made her uncomfortable but she refused to turn away. As she stared back at him she noticed that his helmet and armor had a cobbled together look. After a few moments Alec broke the silence.

"I've been hunting for years. I've become good at it. However, during those years I realized that I can only do so much alone." He turned toward the center of Nordhagen. "There is also less room for error when working alone. One mistake could be the end. I realized I needed someone to fight with me. Someone to teach."

"An apprentice?"

"Yes."

"But why me, specifically? You don't know me. How do you know I'm the right person to teach?"

"I don't, but you were willing and you had some skill. You also had something important. Something that could be molded into something dangerous. It is the same thing that drives me to keep fighting."

"What?"

Alec looked at her. "Hate."

Red didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully, she didn't have to. At that moment, Sarge called out to him.

"Slayer! Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Wordlessly, Alec left, leaving Red with more questions than answers once again. With nothing else to do, she left the guard post and found a bench to sit on, next to one of the many shacks.

'What have I got myself into?' she thought to herself. His final word stuck with her. Hate. In the short time she had known him, Alec had shown very little emotion. But if he was telling the truth; there was something frightening underneath. And what of herself? True, despite being a former raider, she hated raiders because of what Slash had done to her. Did that mean she would become like him? And what if he found out? What would he do?

"Mind if I sit?"

Lost in her thoughts, Red hadn't seen Gwen walk up to her. Instead of the casual clothes Red had seen her wear yesterday; today, Gwen was wearing a metal chestplate and helmet. In her arms was a double-barrelled shotgun. Red shook her head.

"Nah, go right ahead."

"Thanks." Gwen sat next to her. "You look deep in thought."

"Yah." Red agreed as she rubbed her forehead with her hand. "Has Alec always been…" she paused, trying to think of the right word.

"Unique?"

"That's one way to put it."

Gwen sighed, leaning back against the building. "No, he used to be pretty normal and… well, kind of charming."

Red snorted as she tried to contain a laugh. "Charming?"

Gwen half-smiled. "Yes, believe or not."

"Heh, that's some change. What happened?"

The smile immediately disappeared."That's a long story."

"I think we've got time."

"Well…"

"Gwen." It was Sarge's voice. The two of them looked up. Sarge was making his way toward them, followed by Alec. Once he reached them he quickly looked around, making sure no one else was in earshot. "Early this morning I sent a man to scout around. He just returned a few minutes ago." He took a deep breath. "They're coming."

Red felt a knot grow in her stomach. Gwen shot up. "We should sound the alarm bell." Before she could bolt Alec grabbed her arm.

"No."

Gwen looked confused. "Why not?"

"If they hear the bell they'll know were expecting them. Better for them to caught by surprise."

Sarge nodded. "I'm about to spread the word for everyone to get into their positions. Anyone who's not fighting is being sent to the town hall. Once the shooting starts it'll be the safest place."

Gwen rubbed her hands nervously. "Alright. Go ahead."

As Sarge left, Red looked around. "The fog is almost gone." She noted aloud.

Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them she looked resigned to the situation. "Here we go."  
"Indeed." Alec said as he turned toward the front gate. Both women followed him.

"Are you sure their going to do a two pronged attack?" Asked Gwen.

"Yes. nine times out of ten it is their preferred strategy."

"What about the other one of ten." Red Asked.

"They may throw everything at the front gate and try to overwhelm with numbers."

"I don't like either possibility." Red stated with Gwen nodding in agreement.

When they reached the gate a man practically leaped from his guard post to meet them. Red recognized him as Carl.

"Gwen, three guys are walking across the bridge toward the gate with a white flag. I think they want to talk."

As if on cue, they heard a man shout. "I'm Sergeant Hargraves of the gunners, we want to talk to the leader of this settlement."The early nervousness Gwen had shown was now gone, replaced with contempt.

"Do they really think we're that stupid." she said aloud. "As soon as I step out they'll either shoot me or take me hostage to get what they want."

"So, we obviously can't send you out." Noted Red. "So, what do we do?"

"I'll go."

Everyone turned to Alec. "You?" The three said at once.

"Yes. They'll most likely demand that we surrender peacefully. When I refuse they'll try to kidnap me. Since I'm not you…" He nodded at Gwen. "...there is no risk."

Gwen was not convinced "But they might try to kill you!"

"Try."

It was just one word, but it sounded menacing coming from him.

Gwen took a deep breath. "Alright, don't get killed. Carl, open the gate."

"Yes, Ma'am." Carl moved to the gate with Alec following behind.

Red made her way to a guard post so she could see. Halfway across the bridge three men in gunner uniforms stood with white flag. Two of them had laser pistols on their hips while the one in the center had a combat shotgun on his back. As Alec walked through the gate the men looked at each other and appeared to be speaking. They were too far away for her to hear them properly, but she guessed Alec wasn't what they were expecting. Alec halted a few feet from the men and she assumed he was talking to them.

Red glanced past the men to the other side of the bridge. The fog had mostly lifted so she could see the beach at the end of the bridge. On the beach she could make out a lot of people. Some standing around others crouching behind cover, but all watching what was going on. When Red looked back at the three gunners talking to Alec she could tell they weren't happy. The central man, whom she assumed was Hargraves, was making angry gestures and almost yelling his words. Red caught some of the words and none of them boded well. After several more moments of yelling profanities the man turned away from Alec.

Without warning, Alec stepped forward, drew his pistol and fired into the back of the man's head in one clean motion. Before he hit the ground Alec seized his body and fired at the other two men. The second man had begun to draw his pistol but didn't have a chance to fire before bullet struck his head. The third man managed to fire his laser pistol; but his shot hit the body Alec had grabbed and was now using as a shield. Two bullets hit the third man who went down.

For a second, the beach was silent, as if both sides were unsure what to do next. Then, bullets tore through the air, sounding like a thunderclaps happening at once.

Red ducked down for cover and heard the whizzing of bullets passing overhead. Sarge went immediately into action.

"Keep your heads down! Wait for them to come to us!"

As Sarge rushed forward,barking orders, Alec stumbled through the gate, still using the gunner's body for a shield.

"Close the gate!" Sarge shouted. Carl moved quickly to obey, slamming the gate shut.

Now secure behind the gate, Alec dropped the gunner's body, revealing himself to be covered in blood. Red quickly moved to his side.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, none of it's mine." He casually used his sleeve to wipe blood from his visor.

"You two better get to the north wall than." Sarge told them. "If you're right about this whole mess, I doubt they'll wait long to blow it up."

Alec nodded then motioned for Red to follow. "Let's go."

The two of them rushed toward the north wall. As they ran Red saw a man at a guard post stand up and fire his gun. As soon as he began to duck back down he stumbled backwards off the post, landing flat on his back with blood running down his face. Red forced herself to look away and keep running.

It didn't take them long to reach the north wall but it did nothing to calm Red's nerves. Scattered around, hiding behind makeshift cover, where the men and women tasked with guarding the wall. Four of them looked like guards, six others were citizens armed with whatever they could get their hands on. Most looked nervous, some looked absolutely terrified. Alec's presence had a somewhat calming effect on some, but not much. Alec knelt behind some sandbags while Red took cover behind an overturned metal table with cinder blocks in front of it.

'Breath.' Red told herself. 'Breath. This isn't your first fight and it won't be your last.' While that was true she knew she had never been in a fight this big before so it didn't calm her much. 'I wonder if Alec is nervous?' She glanced in his direction. He had already holstered his pistol and was now holding his rifle in a ready position. He looked as calm as ever. Of course, it was hard to tell when she couldn't see his face.

An explosion caught her attention. Her eyes darted toward the wall. It was still standing.

'The mines.' She thought. She checked her pistol. Loaded and ready. Another explosion, this one sounded closer. She slowly aimed her gun at the wall. The third explosion made her duck back behind cover. Wood and splinters flew everywhere. When she peeked over her cover she gulped. Where there was once wood was now smoke and a hole big enough for a pair of brahmin to walk through.

Through the smoke came two gunners. When they made it through both froze, apparently surprised to see twelve guns pointed in their direction. As one of them turned to run, someone fired. Immediately an avalanche of bullets followed, nearly cutting the two men in half. Seconds later the smoke completely cleared and Red could see at least a dozen men making their way towards them. Behind them Red saw a gunner with a rocket launcher, aiming it right at them.

The crack of a familiar rifle sounded to Red's right and the gunner fell backwards, pulling the trigger as he fell. The rocket went high, sailing past Nordhagen and into the ocean.

Red fired into the breach. She could see a few gunner stumble as if they had been hit but get back up and keeping moving, their combat armor saving them from major injury. A few other gunners fell face first into the sand, settler bullets having found their marks. To their credit, the gunners didn't retreat but kept moving forward, firing as they went. One woman screamed and clutched her shoulder. A man flew backwards as a grenade exploded next to him. Neither side was backing down and both were taking casualties.

In the chaos Red noticed that Alec had stood up and was slowly walking forward. Every other step he fired his rifle. One gunner noticed and his own rifle at the exposed Slayer. Red rapidly fired an entire clip in his direction. Most of the panicked shots missed but two managed to his him. One in the thigh and the other in the arm. The gunner screamed and instinctively dropped his rifle. Realizing his mistake he moved to grab it but was hit a third time by a bullet from a settler.

The gunners appeared to realize that the tables had turned against them and began to fall back. While some of the more experienced gunners fired as they began stepping back others simply turned and ran as fast as they could. Those that run were easier targets. Red moved forward as the gunner's fire waned.

Click. Her gun was empty. She reached for another clip. Nothing. She looked down at her waist. All of her clips were gone. Without realizing it, she had fired all of her ammunition in a matter of minutes. She looked back at the breach, all the gunners that were still alive were gone. Alec had taken cover behind a portion of the wall that was still standing as he reloaded his rifle. Once his rifle was loaded he stepped out of cover to take another shot. Bang. He fell backwards and dropped his rifle.

"Alec!" Red screamed. She rushed toward him as fast as she could. Upon reaching him she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into cover. "Alec! Are you alright?" No response. She looked him over. She didn't see a bullet wound. "Alec!" she screamed at him. This time he groaned and reached up to touched his helmet.

"It just grazed me."

Red looked at his helmet. There was indeed a graze mark on it. She breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly feeling very tired, she leaned back against the wall. She could still hear gunshots, but they were far fewer. Alec sat up and looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She told him.

"Good."

Red waited for her heart to stop beating so hard before she spoke again. "Is it over?"

"Probably."

Alec rose to his feet. He offered her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up. By now the gunfire had stopped completely, with only a few parting shots to break the silence. Red looked back at the other defenders. They were only now beginning to break from cover and survey the carnage. Gunner bodies lay everywhere. She could see the bodies of a few settlers as well, but not nearly as many.

"I think we should check the gate." She thought aloud.

"I think so too."

They found the gate to still be standing. It was little chewed up by gunfire, but still intact. There were a few injured but casualties appeared to be minimal. They found Gwen kneeling beside one of the wounded, administering a stimpack. When she saw them approaching she stood up and met them.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"We won."

A smile played on Gwen lips as she removed her helmet. She wiped away the sweat that had collected on her forehead.

"It seems Nordhagen owes you, Alec." Suddenly, Gwen dropped her helmet and gripped Alec in a tight hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After a few seconds Gwen let Alec go and turned to Red. "Thanks for helping us defend our home. I know you didn't have a stake in this but you helped us anyway." She held out her arm, which Red took and shook. "As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome here anytime."

"Thanks." Red couldn't help but put on a big grin. If someone had told her a few weeks ago that she would be welcomed by a settlement, she would've laughed. 'How things change.' She thought. As she released Gwen's hand she suddenly realized she was really thirsty.

"Do you have anything to drink?" She asked.

Gwen smiled even more. "I think I can find something."


	4. The Cost

"How many?"

The four of them had sat in silence for what felt like hours in the town hall. Sarge was staring out the window, taking periodic gulps from a beer bottle. Red sat in a chair, also drinking beer. Alec was pouring over a map of the Commonwealth and Gwen sat at a table, slowly stirring a bowl of soup that had long gone cold. The brief joy of victory had quickly evaporated once they had to witness the price. No one answered her, so Gwen asked again.

"How many?"

Sarge turned from the window. "Five of our people are dead. Twice that many are wounded. Three of which are in critical condition."

Gwen nodded and looked back down at her soup. She had expected casualties but it still hurt. She had known each one of them. Yesterday they had been smiling, good-natured friends. Now, they were gone. She pushed her bowl away. She wasn't hungry.

"What about the gunners?" She continued.

Alec answered without looking up from the map. "We found thirteen dead bodies. They grabbed their injured as they left, but I imagine at least that many are wounded."

"I bet they're cussing up a storm right now." Red declared just before she took another swig from her bottle. "Do you think they'll try again?"

Alec shook his head. "Not immediately. They were no doubt surprised we beat them." He stood up straight. "They'll take time to weigh the cost of another attack with the benefit of a possible victory."

"What benefit could they get from taking Nordhagen?" Gwen asked. "We don't have anything of value. We trade fish for crying out loud!" She threw her hands in the air and got up. She walked over to the table where Alec had been studying the map and stared at him from across the table. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Why?" She began to shake. "Why did five good people have to die?"

Sarge walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know why." She looked up at him. "It's not Nordhagen they want."

"Wait a minute." Red stood up. "If they don't want Nordhagen, then what do they want?"

Both Sarge and Gwen looked at Alec, who nodded his head.

"Fort Strong." Gwen managed to say. "They want Fort Strong."

"Ok, what is Fort Strong?"

"It's an old pre-war base on an island just a little southeast of us," Sarge explained. "The only way to get to it is a bridge connected to the end of the peninsula. They would need to go through us to get to it."

"What makes Fort Strong so important?"

"All you need to know is that what is inside could turn the entire Commonwealth upside down and a lot of people died sealing that place up." His tone told Red that it would be best to change the subject.

"So… What now?"

Everyone turned to Alec who looked back down at the map. "We need to find where the gunners came from and ensure they do not get a second chance at an attack."

"Couldn't they just call up reinforcements from another gunner gang?" Gwen asked.

Alec shrugged his head. "Gunner groups operate mostly independent from one another. Each leader vying for more personal power. If one called for aid from another group it would show weakness and incompetence. They would likely lose a significant amount of their authority within the Gunners."

"So how do we find them?" Red asked as she walked to Alec's side and looked down at the map. "They could be based anywhere."

"The prisoner would know," Alec noted.

"I already questioned him." Sarge countered. "He's a local conscript. He says he never saw the base."

"That's what he says. I want the truth."

"You think he's lying?" Gwen questioned.

"I believe everyone is lying until I am proven otherwise." As he said the last part he briefly turned his gaze to Red. As brief as it was, it made her blood freeze. "I will question him."

Sarge was about to say something but Gwen interrupted him. "Do what you have to." Her normally happy voice had turned ice cold.

Everyone left the hall together, following Alec as he walked to the shack that was serving as a jail. When they reached the shack the man on guard, seeing Gwen with them, stepped aside. Before entering Alec placed his weapons outside. Without a word, he stepped inside. The three of them looked in through the only barred window the shack had. When the gunner, who had been leaning back in a chair, saw Alec step in his face instantly turned pale. He shot from his seat and starting stepping backward away from Alec.

"No! N-no! No!" He pointed a shaking finger at Alec. "You can't be here! Y-you don't exist!"

Alec silently continued to step toward him until the gunner's back was flat against the wall and his own back was to the window.

"Where is the base you came from?"

"I already told the other guy. I'm just a conscript. I never saw the base."

"I know what you told him." Alec took another step forward, only a foot away from the cowering man. "But I want the truth… corporal."

Although Red didn't think it was possible, the man's face turned even paler.

"Wha-what?"

"Some gunner's use tattoos to denote rank." Alec pointed at a skull tattoo on the man's face. "You wouldn't have that unless you were at least a corporal. Now tell me, corporal coward, where is the base?"

A hint of anger appeared on the man's face. "Coward? You're the one hiding behind a mask."

There was a pause as if Alec was thinking over what he said. Slowly, he reached up to his mask. There was a brief hissing sound as he pulled the mask of his face. The gunner's mouth hung open as he stared at Alec.

Suddenly, Alec lunged forward and gripped the man's throat. His face now mere inches from the gunner's; his next words were barely above a whisper.

"Where is the base?" Without his voice being filtered through the mask, Red noted it sounded worn.

The gunner cracked. "The Mass Bay Medical Center!" he shouted. "The Mass Bay Medical Center!"

Alec immediately let him go and the man dropped to the floor, clutching his throat. "We are finished." He placed the mask back on his face before walking back toward the door. Once outside he gathered his weapons and motioned for the three of them to follow him. They walked back to the hall where Alec went back to the map and tapped on a spot. "This is the medical center."

"It's too far away for us to attack," Sarge observed. "We'd get torn to shreds by super mutants and ghouls before we even got close."

"A single man would stand a better chance of getting there alive."

Sarge raised an eyebrow. "You plan to take on an entire base by yourself."

Alec shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Sarge took a deep breath. "Alright, you always seemed to know what you're doing."

"Wait!" Red interrupted. "What about me? Are you just going to leave me behind?"

"Yes."

His blunt answer startled her, but she quickly recovered her composure. "No."

"No?"

"No. I am coming with you."

"Why?"

Red was about to blurt something out when a thought crossed her mind.

'Is this a test?' She had expected him to say. 'I see' like he when she first started following him. Here, though, he asked why. She wished she could see his face so she could try to read his expression, instead of staring at a blank, expressionless mask. After taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she answered.

"It's like you said earlier. If you go alone there's a higher chance of something going wrong."

"True, but you're less experienced in this than me."

"So you are going to teach me what I need to know before we leave."

For several agonizing seconds, there was nothing but silence as the two stared each other down. Slowly, Alec eventually nodded his head.

"I am."

It was a statement. Not a question or an apathetic 'I see,' but a legitimate declaration. Red felt such immense pride swell up in her chest at passing this 'test' that all she could manage was... "Good."

Sarge shook his head. "Now you're starting to sound like him. Anyway, I guess this means you'll be staying here for a while?" Alec nodded affirmation. "Good to know. There's a lot of work that need doing around here. Wounded need tended to and that hole in the wall needs patching up. Hope you plan on pitching in."

"We will." Alec then turned to walk out but halted just as he reached the door. "Red, tomorrow morning we begin training. Meet me at the south-east gate at sunrise."

As he departed Sarge began to leave as well. "I go too. Might as well start getting all that work done now." Once Sarge and Alec left only Red and Gwen remained in the hall.

"Soo…" Red began, not wanting the silence to turn awkward. "Before the gunners showed up you were about to tell me about what happened to Alec?"

"I suppose I was." Gwen sat down in one of the many chairs in the building an motioned for Red to join her. "I doubt Alec will mind if I tell you. I don't even know if he remembers anything about it."

"What do you mean?"

Gwen's expression turned sad. "I've asked several times about what happened but he's never given a clear answer. After a while, I figured he either didn't want to talk about it or couldn't." Gwen shook her head. "He doesn't remember anything from before that day so it didn't seem unreasonable that he couldn't remember what happened to him too."

"So what did happen?"

"I don't know the whole story, but I'll tell you what I know."

* * *

_Years Earlier_

"How do I look?"

Gwen looked him up and down. He wore a metal chest plate and helmet with leather covering his arms and legs. Most of it was a little beat up and worn but it was the best they could manage. On his hip, he carried a rusty 10mm pistol with a few extra clips.

"Ok, I guess."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Do you have to do this? I'm sure they'll be fine without you."

Alec shook his head. "We talked about this."

"I know."

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No one knows the area better than me. I can get them there and back safer and quicker."

"But we need you here." She pleaded.

"You're just building houses. Not exactly my expertise; and Sarge can keep everyone safe while I'm gone."

Gwen stared at the ground, defeated. What he was saying made sense, but the sickening feeling in her stomach remained.

"Hey," Alec gripped both her shoulders. "Look at me." Gwen did as he asked. He was giving her his best comforting smile. "Everything is going to be fine. The Minutemen know what they're doing. They do this kind of stuff all the time. I'll be in good hands. Besides, it just raiders. It's not as if we're raiding a Deathclaw cave."

"Alright." Though she conceded to his argument her frown remained firmly on her face. Seeing this a mischevious grin crept onto Alec's own face.

"C' mon, give me a smile." Alec's hands suddenly began to tickle her sides. Despite her mood, a smile forced its way onto her as she struggled to get away from him.

"Ok! Ok! Just stop!" She laughed and pushed him away, causing him to stumble to the ground. Still grinning, he stood back up.

"I'd better get going. They'll be waiting for me."

Together, they walked to the edge of the fledgling settlement. Most of the buildings were still under construction except the town hall, which had been finished a few days prior. Waiting to meet them were a dozen men in Minutemen garb along with a few townsfolk who were chatting with them. Seeing them approach, one of the Minutemen stepped toward them.

"Good, you're ready. I was about to send someone to get you."

"I was just taking care of a few things before I left Lieutenant Jackson." Alec shook his hand.

"Please, just Jackson is fine." he noticed Gwen and bowed slightly in her direction. "Doctor."

Before she could speak she was interrupted by a tall, thin man with graying hair.

"I see you're still intent on leaving?" The man asked.

"Yes, Mayor Peter. They need my help."

"Well, far be it from me to stop you." He also gave Alec a firm handshake. "Stay safe. If you come back in one piece we'll have a celebration for you."

"Well, I guess the choice is out of my hands then." Those around laughed. There was more small talk but eventually, Jackson put an end to it.

"We'd better get moving. We're wasting daylight." He gave everyone one more handshake. "We'll be back in a week." Once he finished his last handshake he turned to his men and shouted. "Alright! Let's move out! To Dunwich" Once everyone said their final farewells they followed after Jackson. Alec gave Gwen a final hug before he too followed Jackson northward. For a while, Most of the townsfolk turned back to the settlement to return to their work; but Gwen watched Alec as he walked away. Only once they were out of sight did she return to Nordhagen as well.

'They'll be back before you know it.' she told herself. 'You're worrying about nothing.' She couldn't have been any more wrong.

A week passed and Alec had not returned. Eight days, then nine passed without any sign of the band of Minutemen. Gwen spent most of the days trying to distract herself from the ever-growing despair that was building within her. The medical needs of Nordhagen served as a constant distraction. Once the tenth day began to reach its end, however, she began to become desperate. She found herself unable to focus on anything. Something had gone wrong. She knew it, but she could nothing. She was powerless, and that was perhaps the worst part.

She spent that evening sitting on a chair at the edge of the settlement, fruitlessly watching for any sign of Alec's return. It was a cold evening, and it was getting even colder as the sun set lower and lower on the horizon. Finally, the cold became unbearable. With great reluctance, she got up from her seat and began walking toward her shack. On a lark, she took another look outside Nordhagen. Nothing. No one was there. Dejectedly, she began to walk away again.

She made it six steps before the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on their ends. Confused, she turned back around. The sun had almost completely set so it was difficult to see. Squinting, her eyes strained to see anything. She was about to dismiss it as her mind playing tricks on her but just as she was about to give up she spotted movement. Just beyond the bridge that connected Nordhagen with the mainland something was making its way toward the settlement. As it drew closer, she became sure it was a person. They were limping badly and making slow progress, but it was undoubtedly a person. Before she could fully process what she was seeing she bolted toward the figure. She had just about given up hope; but she knew it was him, it had to be.

"Alec!" she shouted as she rushed toward the figure. Whoever it was appeared to pick up its pace, then stumbled and fell to the ground. Gwen ran faster. Within seconds she made it to the now collapsed man. It was Alec, he was wearing the same outfit he had left in. she turned him over onto his back. Upon seeing his face she gasped. It was definitely Alec, but something was wrong, very wrong. he tried to pick him up but on her own but she wasn't strong enough "Help!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Help!" a few settlers rushed out from Nordhagen to see what was going on. Some were armed, expecting some sort of attack.

"What's going on?" It was from Peter. He made his way to Gwen and looked down. His eyes bulged. "What in..? Help me get him inside." he threw one of Alec's arms over his shoulder and Gwen took the other and together, they managed to make their way toward the town hall. As they went settlers watched them and tried to question them. Gwen didn't bother to answer and ignored. Not that she had any answers. With effort, they made it into the town hall and placed Alec on a bed inside.

Gwen sprinted around the hall grabbing whatever medical supplies she could find. Once satisfied with what she gathered she placed it all on a table next to Alec and got to work. Peter silently watched, his face grim. Gwen worked through the night, trying to keep Alec alive.

'He did not come this far just to die.' she told herself. 'I won't let it happen.'

Gwen rarely left Alec's side for the next several days. Once his condition was somewhat stable he was moved upstairs onto a bed. He drifted in and out of consciousness but was incoherent when awake. When he wasn't mumbling during his brief bouts of alertness he stared into space, either ignoring or unable to acknowledge Gwen when she tried to speak with him.

This continued for a week until, after she left to get more medical supplies she opened the door and found him struggling to stand up. He briefly managed to bring himself completely upright before he fell to his knees, his legs weak from lack of use. Gwen rushed to his side and helped him sit back down on his bed.

"You shouldn't be up. You're not well enough yet." She told him. She didn't expect him to answer. He hadn't said a word the whole week. At her voice, he turned toward her. For a moment, he squinted, as if trying to focus.

"Gwen?" His voice was weak much like the rest of his body, but it was his voice.

In her excitement Gwen hugged him, causing him to yelp in pain. She quickly released him.

"Sorry."

Alec smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay." his smile quickly faded as he looked himself over.

"What happened to you?" Gwen hoped he could finally answer all of her questions. "What happened to the Minutemen? What happened at Dunwich Borers?"

Gwen had never seen Alec look so dejected and defeated in her life. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly as if struggling for an answer. Eventually, he buried his head in his hands and for the only time in her life, she heard him quietly cry. Gwen did the only thing she could think to do. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and sat with him in silence.

Red finished the last swig of her beer and let out a quiet whistle. Gwen nodded in silent agreement.

"He never told me his side of the story but I'm guessing the Minutemen he went with died."

"I've heard a lot of rumors about the Dunwich Borers. If even half of them are true he's gone through hell and back. No wonder he's messed up."

"I've heard rumors too, never managed to confirm anything though."

After a long silence, Red got her feet and stretched. "Well, thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome."

"I'd better go make myself useful. See you later, I guess."

"Yes, see you."

After Red left the hall Gwen got to her feet and walked upstairs to her room. It was the same room she had treated Alec in. It was the same room she had worked as the town's doctor for years. Now, on top of being the town doctor, she was the mayor. She hadn't been at the job long, only a little more than a year. Peter had died and left the position open. Since she had worked closely with him before she had been the obvious choice. She hadn't wanted the job but she accepted it since no one else seemed to want it either.

Once she was in her room she walked over to her desk and pulled out her personal journal. Ever since she had started working as a doctor she had kept meticulous notes on all of her patients. She flipped through the pages until she found the entries she was looking for. She hadn't told Red all the details. She kept those to herself and to her journal.

_Alec_

_7/13_

_Brought in with multiple injuries and difficulty breathing._

_Face badly scarred from a fire? Ointment applied to ease possible pain._

_Body badly sunburned? Ointment applied._

_Scars over heart, intestines, and stomach areas of the body. Knife wounds? Should've been fatal. Partly healed. Internal damage?_

_Multiple smaller lacerations cover the body._

_Stimpacks used as much as I dare. Wounds cleaned and bandages also applied to avoid possible infection.  
_

_Breathing ragged and coughing constantly. Gasmask with a filter placed over the face. Appears to aid with breathing. Coughing reduces substantially._

_Eyes have turned completely black. Cause and possible treatment unknown._

_Alec should not be alive._

_7/14_

_Condition stable. Still unconscious._

_The stimpacks appear to be working. Some scars show signs of healing._

_'Sunburns' healing._

_Bandages changed and more ointment applied._

_7/15_

_Condition unchanged._

_Bandages removed. No longer necessary_

_7/16_

_Has become conscious several times. Unresponsive._

_Facial scars not healing. Stimpacks ineffective. Damage probably permanent._

_Constant mumbling when conscious. Incoherent._

_7/17_

_Condition unchanged._

_Continues mumbling. Some words are recognizable. _

'_Jackson' 'Underground' 'Dead' 'Dunwich'_

_7/17_

_Condition unchanged._

_Repeating the same word over and over._

'_Ug-Qualtoth'  
_

_Word does not appear in the dictionary. Meaning unknown._

_7/18_

_Is now conscious and coherent._

_Attempted to walk. Unsuccessful. Will require time to recover fully._

_Appears not to be in any immediate danger, for now._

_Unable to get the story. Unable? Unwilling?_

_7/19_

_Opened blinds in the room. Skin immediately began to burn and eyes in pain._

_Developed intolerance to direct sunlight? Cause?_

_Clothing and tinted eyewear appear to help. Long term treatment?_

_Complains of constant pain from where cuts were. painkillers were given._

The entries continued a little longer, mostly detailing his long road to recovery. She finished reading them before placing the journal back in her desk. As she placed it in the drawer she felt her hand brush against something. Carefully, she pulled the object out of the drawer.

It was a small, black box, no more than an inch in a half tall and wide. Tears welled up in her eyes as memories flashed through her head. Mournfully, she placed it back, unopened, and closed the drawer.


	5. Nightmare

Red spent much of the day working around Nordhagen. There was much to be done and she found herself all over the settlement, doing whatever task presented itself. Throughout most of it, she mulled over Gwen's story. It answered many questions she had but created just as many new ones for her to think about. The biggest one was what actually happened in the Dunwich Borers?

Lots of rumors swirled around that place. She figured most of them were just stories bored people made up during a long night. There were enough of them, however, that she was certain there was something not quite right with it. When she was a raider her gang would sometimes move to a new place to find better pickings elsewhere. Once, they passed by the quarry. They stopped only briefly to look around, but that brief stop convinced them to leave and never come back.

The outside of the place was what Red imagined a warzone might look like if left alone afterward. Bodies were strewn everywhere. Rusted weapons laying beside them. What remained of their clothes and armor they recognized as raider style. The creepiest part was that the bodies showed decaying, but showed no sign of predators or insects actually eating them, which would have happened anywhere else. There was no sign of any scavengers having come to pick the place clean either. Everything was left untouched by man or beast like the entire world had given the place a wide berth. The area around the quarry was also eerily quiet. Red couldn't remember hearing a single bird or animal the entire time.

Once they descended into the quarry fear began to build in all of them. As they were looking around, hoping to find some useful loot among the corpses and debris, Red found what probably used to be the entrance to the underground part of the quarry. Rubble covered the entrance so it would be impossible to enter without some kind of heavy equipment or a lot of spare time on one's hands. Idly, she poked at it with her gun as she wondered much debris was blocking the entrance.

At first, she thought she heard the wind picking up, but she didn't feel any wind. Confused, she listened closely. The sound was slowly becoming louder. She looked at her companions. They had all stopped what they were doing to listen as well. All of them were gripping their weapons tightly. The noise didn't sound like wind. Red thought it almost sounded like the quiet groan. The noise became louder. There was no mistaking it, it was not the wind. Suddenly, the ground shook and the debris covering the entrance shifted slightly. At the same moment, the sound became deafening. At that point, everyone lost what was left of their nerves and bolted out of the quarry and as far away as their legs would carry them. Later, they would joke about getting spooked by the wind, but they never came close to the quarry again.

Once Red finished the last bit of work for the day she got dinner from the dining hall. She ate in silence by herself, which is how she preferred it. When she was done she wandered around the settlement. It wasn't quite dark yet but she couldn't think of anything else to do.

'I wonder what Alec's been up to?' She hadn't seen him since he left the town hall. After a few minutes of searching, she found Sarge and she decided to ask him. At the moment, he appeared to be inspecting the gate, perhaps looking for damage.

"Have you seen Alec?" She asked as she walked up behind him. Sarge briefly turned to see who was talking but then returned to his work.

"He's at Fort Strong, I think."

"What's he doing there?"

Sarge shrugged. "I don't know. Before he left a year ago he used to spend a lot of time there. Maybe he's training or maybe he just wants to be alone."

"He left a year ago?"

"Yep, this is the first any of us have seen him since. We heard a lot of stories from travelers but none from any who'd actually seen him."

"He's built quite a reputation it seems." Red mused. "That gunner was scared to death of him."

Sarge chuckled at the reminder. "That guy probably needs a new pair of pants."

Red laughed. "What do you plan on doing with him, anyway?"

"Not sure, yet. Can't let him go and don't want to kill him in cold blood. We'll probably end up putting him to work until this whole gunner mess is taken care off; then we'll decide what to do with him."

"Ah."

Sarge finished his inspection and turned around. "You plan on turning in for the night?"

"Yeah, in a few minutes." Red moved to leave but another question crossed her mind. "Why did Alec leave a year ago?"

"I don't know that either, but I think he was hunting someone."

"Someone? Who could he be hunting?"

Sarge shrugged and let out a tired sigh. "Look, I don't understand him any more than you do."

"Does anyone understand him?"

"Gwen seems to. They've always been close, though."

Red had noticed that too. The way Gwen had told her story made her think that. She wondered how close, though. She yawned. She could think more about it later.

"See you tomorrow." Red walked back to her shack and flopped onto the bed. Immediately she began to drift off to sleep She hadn't realized how tired all the work had made her.

* * *

She had another nightmare, this one worse than the last. This time the corpses grabbed her and dragged her around, aimlessly. She thrashed about, trying to get them off, but their grip was like a vice.

"Let go!" she screamed. "Leave me alone!"

"Red!" They groaned back. "Red!"

"Go away!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and put every ounce of her muscles into throwing them off.

"Red! Red!" She felt a sharp jolt run through her back and she instantly awoke. As she regained her senses, three things became apparent. One, she couldn't move. Two, she was on the floor, not her bed. Three, Alec, visible only by dim candlelight, was standing over her and pinning her arms and legs to the ground.

"What… what are you doing?" She still felt groggy from her sudden awakening.

Alec released her and helped her to her feet.

"You were thrashing so violently I thought you might hurt yourself." He helped her back to her bed where they both sat down. "When I tried to wake you, you attacked me in your sleep."

"So you pinned me to the ground?"

Alec shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea."

"Thanks, I guess."

Alec didn't respond immediately but sat in silence. For several minutes, the only sound was the two of them breathing. Red figured Alec was waiting for her to say something about what happened, but she didn't want to talk about it. Eventually, Alec stood up and walked to the door, taking the candle with him.

"Come with me."

"Where to?" Red stood up but didn't immediately follow.

"Dining Hall."

"Why? Won't it be locked up or something?"

"Yes."

Alec walked through the door and Red followed. Curiosity, more than anything, pushing her forward. The moon and stars were out in force so Red guessed it was still late at night. It didn't take long for them to reach the dining hall which was, of course, locked. Casually, Alec produced a bobby pin and a knife and had the door unlocked within seconds.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you can pick a lock," Red observed.

Alec said nothing and they walked into a back room. Red guessed it was the kitchen since there was a fridge and several closets and cabinets inside. Alec immediately began grabbing several items. Some she recognized, like a few fruits. Others she didn't, maybe they were spices. With practiced ease, he began to mix them together in a bowl.

"What are you making?"

"A drink."

'Obviously.' She thought to herself, but she held her tongue.

After several minutes of mixing ingredients poured out the contents into a glass and handed it to her.

"It should help with the nightmares." He told her as she took it. She almost asked how he knew she had a nightmare before catching herself.

'People having good dreams don't attack people in their sleep.' She berated herself. It was hard to get a proper look at Alec's concoction in the dim lighting but she thought it had a red coloring to it. She gave it a sniff and it smelled like alcohol of some kind.

Alec motioned for her to sit down at one of the tables. She did and Alec joined her, sitting across from her. In the dim light, he looked especially intimidating.

'Definitely not someone I would want to meet at night.' She took a cautious sip from the drink. It was surprisingly sweet and she took several more sips. She noticed Alec was watching her.

"It's good." She told him. Alec nodded.

"Good. I can't trust my own taste buds anymore." He leaned back in his chair. "I Worried it might taste like dishwater."

Red was surprised. The statement was so… normal. Alec always spoke, at least from what she'd seen, in a serious and monotone manner. What he had just said, however, sounded just like something a normal person would say, something Red thought was beyond him. Even his always droning voice had subsided slightly, if but for a moment.

"How did you learn to make this?" She asked between sips.

"Trial and error."

"Have you suffered from nightmares?"

Alec only nodded. Red decided to enjoy the silence for a few minutes, taking an occasional sip. After a while, she felt very tired. She yawned and looked down at her cup. It was empty. Upon hearing her yawn, Alec rose from his seat.

"We should get some rest. There will be a lot to do tomorrow."

"Okay." Red yawned her reply. Red vaguely remembered walking back to their shack and dropping like a bag of rocks onto her bed.

* * *

Alec watched her for a few minutes, making sure she had fallen asleep before stepping back outside. Quietly he sat down on a nearby bench and stared up into the sky, lost in thought. How long had he lived like this? Sometimes, it felt like an eternity. He figured he should be thankful he was alive but he often wondered if the alternative would have been better.

The wind picked up, causing some of the buildings to groan quietly. Alec's head twisted toward the source of the sound.

"Nothing." He told himself. "Nothing." He stared at the ground. He knew he should get some rest even though he didn't feel tired. He barely slept these days. Sometimes he did so out of necessity but most of the time, he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. Every time he did, images he had been trying to forget came back to him. The drink he had created helped, but it could only do so much.

The wind moaned again and Alec's heart jumped in his chest.

_Let go of me!_ He heard the whisper in his head.

_Help! Stop! What are you doing with us?_ The whispers became yells. He looked up. He was no longer in Nordhagen but in a dark and wretched place hole in the ground.

_Keep the sacrifice still._ A man in a dark robe approached a man being held down on a crudely carved altar of stone. His voice reminded Alec of maggots and corpses. In one hand he held a black goblet, filled with an equally black liquid. The man continued to struggle against the four men holding him, even managing to kick one in his nethers. The captor showed no pain or even reacted to the kick but continued to hold the man down. The dark robed man stood over his prisoner and smiled.

_You should feel honored. Your sacrifice will pave the way for the new world._

The captive responded by spitting into the man's face. The robed man grabbed the captive by the throat and forced the liquid down his throat. The captive immediately began to scream and writhe in pain, as if he was being burned by an invisible fire. He thrashed so violently that his captors lost their grip. Within seconds, the robed man produced a long, jagged dagger from his cloak and stabbed the writhing man in the heart. The captive's eyes bulged for a brief moment before glazing over in death.

_Hm, another failure. He was too weak. Bring the next one._ The four men that were holding the man turned their attention to Alec and began to move toward him. In a flash, Alec drew his sword and stood up, ready to fight.

He was in Nordhagen again. He collapsed back onto the bench, not bothering to sheath his sword. He stared into the distance, unmoving. The energy had been sapped from his limbs. Too tired to move, he remained where he sat until the sun began to rise on the horizon.

* * *

Red woke up feeling like she could conquer the Commonwealth

'What was in that drink?' Red thought to herself. 'I haven't slept that soundly since, ever!' She practically leaped out of bed and made herself presentable before she stepped outside. As soon as she did she felt something was off. She stood in the doorway and looked around but couldn't see anything odd. Then she looked up. The sun was high in the sky. It was noon. Her jaw dropped

'What was in that drink?' To her horror, she remembered that Alec had wanted to meet her at the south-east gate that morning. As she stepped forward her foot hit something, nearly causing her to fall on her face.

"What the…?" At her feet was a package. On the top was a folded note which read: _For Red, From Nordhagen Security_

Surprised and a little confused, she picked it up and brought it inside. She unfolded the note and saw there was more written.

_If anything good came from the Gunner attack it's that now we have a great deal more supplies to defend Nordhagen with. Since you helped defend our homes we thought you deserved to reap some of the rewards._

Intrigued, she opened the box. The first thing she saw was a set of combat armor. Underneath that was a combat shotgun along with a box of shells for it. A huge smile crept onto Red's face. Immediately she began to put the armor on. It wasn't a perfect fit but a few adjustments could easily fix that. Once she finished putting the last piece on she inspected herself. She had never worn anything as high quality as combat armor and felt like a child that just received a new toy. Satisfied with her armor she picked up the shotgun. It was much heavier than her pipe pistol, something she would need to get used to if she was ever going to use it. She slung it over her shoulder and, still grinning like mad, she picked up the small box of ammo and walked outside.

As she made her way to the gate she noticed a pair of guards talking to each other. When she was passing by one of them poked his friend and pointed at her. Both smiled and high fived each other. Red pretended not to notice and continued on her way.

Once she reached the gate she looked around. The only person nearby was a guard sitting in chair smoking. She walked up to him.

"Hey, have you seen-"

The guard pointed in the direction of the gate. "He's waiting for you at Fort Strong. Just cross the southern bridge and you're there."

"How did you-"

"Slayer told me to tell you to meet him there if I saw you while I was on smoke break."

"Oh, ok, thanks."

The guard took a puff from his cigarette as he stood up and moved to open the gate. "No problem." After a few seconds of effort, he managed to force the gate open. "Stupid rusty hinges!" He muttered to himself.

Red thanked him again and walked toward Fort Strong. Even from a distance, she could see that the front end of the fort, probably where the entrance used to be, had collapsed. As she got closer she could see several small ruined buildings in front of the fort. Some of the buildings looked they had been destroyed more recently than the others. Sitting in one of the ruins was Alec, holding his rifle in his lap. Upon seeing her he motioned for her to come.

"Sleep well?" He asked her. If it were anyone else asking she would think they were smiling under their mask; but since Alec was the one asking, it was probably a sincere question.

"Yes, soundly. Why didn't you wake me up? It's noon." She unslung her shotgun and leaned it against a ruined wall and set the ammo down beside it.

Alec shrugged, as he often did. "You needed the rest."

"I suppose so. I didn't realize how much I needed it, though." Red stretched. "Can you make more of that drink?"

"I can, but only use it as necessary. It is addicting."

"I can imagine why." Red looked around. About ten yards away she saw several bottles lined up on a table. She raised an eyebrow "You want me to do target practice?" She wasn't sure what exactly she expected but it had been more exciting than this.

"I want to see your form." He handed her his rifle. "Shoot."

"Ok." She took the rifle and casually brought it to her shoulder, sighted one of the bottles and fired. She rewarded with the satisfying sound of glass shattering. She repeated the process until all the bottles were shattered. "Easy." She handed the rifle back to him. He didn't take it but pointed back down the range. "What?" She looked back at the range. After a few seconds, she realized there were more bottles, except these ones were about thirty yards away.

"Shoot." He said again. Red took a deep breath and brought the gun to her shoulder. She took a moment to get one of the bottles in her sight then fired. She missed. She fired again. Nothing. She fired a third time. Nothing. She groaned and sighted the bottle again.

"Stop." Alec stood up and gently pushed the rifle barrel downward, getting her attention.

"What?"

"You're pulling the trigger wrong."

"What do you mean? You pull the trigger and the gun fires. What else is there?"

Red took the gun from her and held it so she could see what he was doing.

"You're partly wrapping your finger over the trigger." He demonstrated. "This will make your shot go off to the side slightly. Only pull the trigger with the end of the finger." He handed the rifle back to her. "Try again."

Skeptical, she took the gun and sighted the bottle again. This time, she pulled the trigger back as Alec had demonstrated. The gun fired and the glass shattered. Red grinned. Alec nodded approval.

"At close range, it may not matter; but when accuracy is paramount how you fire your weapon is critical. Continue."

This went one for some time. Red would shoot some targets and Alec would comment on or correct her technique. After an hour her arms were aching and she could barely hit any targets.

"That's enough." Alec took his rifle back. "Get something to eat and meet me back here in an hour."

"More target practice?" She hoped not.

"No, but just as important."

"What?"

"You'll see. Go."

Red grabbed her things and began to walk away. However, she halted when a realization hit her. She was alone with Alec. Now would be an opportune time to ask him some questions she had. She turned back around.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose." Alec had begun to take his rifle apart, probably intending to clean it.

"What happened at Dunwich Borers?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted it. Alec froze and the air itself felt colder. Slowly and in a manner Red found unsettling, he turned toward her. When he spoke, his voice seemed as cold as the air.

"You spoke with Gwen?" Unable to form words, Red merely nodded. Alec shook his head and turned back to his rifle. He motioned for Red to leave but she didn't move. After a few moments, Alec turned back toward her. "Go." She didn't move. Alec stood up and slowly walked toward her, appearing to grow a foot taller with every step until he was towering over her. Red could feel her arms beginning to shake.

"Go, now." The words felt like daggers being thrust into her. Subconsciously, she took a step back.

"No." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Go." Red could hear the anger in his voice, which was one of the most terrifying things she had ever heard. It took every ounce of her will to keep herself firmly rooted on the spot. She shook her head. Red heard him take a deep breath.

"The only thing you need to know is that there are evil things. Things so evil that speaking of them would be tantamount to murder." Alec turned his back to her and Red breathed a sigh of relief. "I won't talk about what happened that day. Not to you, not to Gwen, not to anyone." Red could hear him take a few more deep breaths. When he spoke again his voice and the air seemed normal. "I will take that evil, and what happened, to the grave. Leave."

Red had to force herself to walk away instead of bolting as fast as her legs would go. As she walked she made a silent promise to herself that she would never ask or speak about Dunwich again. Whatever was there, if it could elicit such a reaction out of Alec, was best left unspoken of.


	6. The Calm

For lunch Red sat by herself, lost in her thoughts as she ate. Today lunch was grilled fish. While she was eating she noticed someone sit down across from her. She looked up to see a girl, who was definitely not even eighteen, smiling at her. Red managed an awkward smile back.

"Hi, you're Red right? Came in with Raider Slayer a couple of days ago?" The words shot from the woman's mouth like bullets from a minigun.

Red nodded. "Yep, that's me." She braced herself for what she guessed was going to be an onslaught of questions about Alec. That wasn't what she got.

"Cool. My name's Montana. Montana Williams. Most people call me 'Mad Monty' though."

The name rang a bell in Red's mind. Sarge had mentioned a 'Mad Monty' the day she first arrived at Nordhagen. "Oh, I've heard of you."

The woman beamed. "Hard not to with a name like 'Mad Monty'" She began to eat her food almost as fast as she spoke. In between bites, she continued. "I'm in charge of the Nordhagen Security's weapons, ammo, armor. I'm also a bit of a tinkerer too. If you ever need your stuff modified, I'm your girl. My real passion, though, is for making explosives. Unfortunately, it's really hard to get the supplies you need to make them out here."

Red blinked. She was barely keeping up with this girl. "I can imagine." She swallowed another bite of fish before she finally fully realized what the girl had just said. "Wait. You're in charge of the weapons and you make explosives? You seem a little young to be doing that!"

Monty appeared to take offense at this. "I am sixteen! I am old enough to understand weapons and explosives safety! Besides, do you really think Sarge would put just anyone in charge of the weapons and explosives?"

"Good point."

Monty gave a victorious smile before returning to her food. Neither said anything for the remainder of the meal. When Red got up to leave, however, Monty followed her.

"Where you headed to now?" Monty asked her.

"Fort Strong. I'm meeting with Alec there."

Monty looked confused for a moment. "Alec? Who's- Oh, you mean Raider Slayer. I forgot that was his name before he was Raider Slayer. Not many people call him Alec anymore. Probably for the best. He's not really 'Alec' anymore. Hasn't been since he returned from that failed Minutemen expedition."

Red shook her head in disbelief. This girl seemed incapable of talking at a normal speed. Every word sped out of her mouth like she was on a time limit.

"So I hear. Do you know what happened?"

Monty shook her head. "Not a clue. No one does. Except for Slayer himself, I guess, and he ain't talking."

"Yeah. Did you know him before?"

"Not really. We didn't have a reason to speak to each other. After he came back we talked quite a bit though.

Now Red's curiosity was piqued. "About what?"

"His suit; or what would become his suit. He had a lot of very specific specs for a custom made suit so we ended up talking a lot. Never face to face, however, which I thought was odd. Gwen would deliver messages from him to me and vice versa. We didn't speak directly until after I sent him the finished suit and he was wearing it."

Red halted and turned to Monty. "You made the suit?"

"Yep. It was a challenge too, but I managed and I'm quite proud of my work."

"Why did he need a custom suit anyway?"

"I don't know. When I asked he wouldn't tell me. Anyway, I gotta go. I have a project I'm working on that needs to be done ASAP. Nice talking to you. Bye." And with that, she bolted away, leaving Red with more questions.

"I'm starting to see a pattern here." She muttered to herself. "The more I ask the more confused I get." Putting her questions aside for later, she made her way back to Fort Strong. As she crossed the bridge she saw Alec. At the moment, he was sitting down with his back to her, hunched over, looking at something. A mischievous grin crept onto her face. Carefully and quietly as she could, she tip-toed her way toward him. When she was about five steps from him she heard an ominous 'click' under her feet. Alec turned around to face her and pointed at her foot.

"If that had been a real mine, you'd be dead."

Red looked down and, sure enough, half buried in the sand was a mine. Had it been real, it would have exploded and torn her apart.

"Ok. Why did you put a fake mine there?"

"Being aware of your surroundings is critical to survival." He rose from his seat and scooped up the dummy mine. "Mine's are just one hazard you'll be facing." He tossed it aside.

Red's shoulders sunk in resignation. She wasn't sure she liked his way of teaching. Before she had met him she thought she knew a thing or two about surviving the Commonwealth, now she questioned how she and her old friends had survived as long as they had.

"How did you learn all this?"

"All what?"

"All this stuff about survival and fighting."

"I had a good teacher."

Red's eyes widened. "Who taught you?"

Alec shrugged. "You wouldn't know them."

"Them? You had more than one? Who were they and when did they teach you?"

"They were a married couple, I think. They taught me during my travels to the west a year ago."

"You became a killing machine in less than a year?"

Alec shook his head. "I was training before that. They helped me refine my skills."

"Wow, wish I could meet them. They must be absolute nightmares in a fight."

"They are." Alec motioned for her to follow him.

"Where are they now?"

"Still out west as far as I know. We parted once I began my journey back to the Commonwealth."

"Hmm, what were you doing out there anyway?"

"Hunting." Alec stopped in the center of what appeared to be a makeshift fighting ring, with rope on the ground serving as the border. Once he stopped Red noticed that he was holding something in his left hand.

"What are you reading?"

"An old book." He held it out for her to look at. At first glance, it looked like any other old-world book, perhaps a bit small, but not unusual. Curious, she opened it and read a few lines aloud.

'_And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority'_

She looked up at Alec with a confused expression. "What is this?"

"It's a religious text from the old-world." Alec took it back looked at the lines she had read. "I think it's talking about the end of the world."

"I never thought of you as religious."

'Then again,' she thought to herself. 'How would I know? You avoid talking about yourself as much as you can.'

"I'm not, but If you had seen what I have you would be at least be curious too."

Red shrugged. 'Maybe, but I'll never know since you won't talk about it.'

"Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift from one of my teachers. He was a little religious." He placed the book in his bag before kneeling down to pick something up.

"So, what are we doing?"

"Training." He handed her a wooden sword.

"A sword?" her confused expression returned. "We're training with swords? You do know we're fighting people with guns, right?"

"Yes." Alec was now holding an identical sword in his right hand.

"So, why are we practicing with swords?"

"Lots of things can be taught through swordsmanship." Alec swung the sword around, striking at imaginary enemies. "Balance, endurance, precision, hand-eye coordination; all of these can be learned by practicing with a sword." Alec picked up his pace. Now, he was whirling around, striking, twisting, and parrying in rapid succession. "Some raiders prefer hand-to-hand combat and if you don't learn it, you'll be at a disadvantage when they attack." He had become a blur of motion. He moved so fast Red couldn't keep track of what he was doing. "Bullets run out and in a world as unpredictable as the Commonwealth…" Before Red could react, the tip of his sword was a half an inch from her throat. "...a sword can be as valuable as any gun." Alec stepped back and rested his sword on his shoulder. Red's jaw was practically in the sand.

"How in the world do you move that fast?"

"Practice. Now, your turn." Alec took a defensive stance. "Attack me."

Red looked at the sword in her hand then back to Alec. "Attack you?"

"Yes."

Red shrugged. 'Okay.' she thought. 'Here we go.' Her first strike was at his midsection. She swung like was holding a baseball bat, and his torso was the ball. She fell over when she hit only air. When she looked up in consternation, It looked as if Alec hadn't even moved.

"What? How?"

Alec didn't answer. Red stood back up and swung again. This time she didn't put all of herself into the strike. Again, she missed; but this time she saw he did indeed move, if ever so slightly. Now growing frustrated, Red swung at him repeatedly as fast as she could. Again and again, Alec either dodged the swing or parried it with his sword. All the while moving very little in comparison to Red. After half a minute of swinging, Red stopped, hunched down and gasping for air.

"Ok. What am I doing wrong?" She looked up at Alec expectantly. Alec shoved the 'blade' of his sword into the sand and stepped up to her. For the next hour, Alec lectured her about posture and technique. She would make a few more attempts to hit Alec. Although Alec appeared to have to put more effort into deflecting her attacks, she still couldn't manage to hit him.

"You learn quickly." He noted aloud. "That's good. Being a fast learner will save your life."

Red massaged her now aching muscles. "Thanks. My old buddies always told me I learned quickly. Of course, it was a matter of survival back when I was a-" Red's tongue froze in her mouth. In her fatigue, she had almost let slip her raider past. Alec, who had been cleaning up the target range they had used before lunch, looked back over his shoulder at her.

"A what?"

Red's mind raced. "Scavenger." She blurted it out more forcefully than she intended. She silently prayed he bought the lie.

"Hm." Alec returned to what he was doing, giving no indication he thought she was lying. Red breathed a silent sigh of relief.

'That was too close.' Satisfied her secret was safe, she helped Alec clean up the range. With the two of them, it only took a few minutes to complete.

"We're done training today," Alec told her once they finished.

"Okay. What are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I plan to do a light recon of the Gunner base. I need to do some planning first before I go, however."

"I'm not coming with you?"

"No. I'll do better alone. You won't be needed either. I don't plan on getting very close so there is little danger if I go alone."

Red felt annoyed that she was being left behind. "So what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" She placed her hands on her hips. "You're supposed to be training me, aren't you."

"I'll only be gone two days. You can practice by yourself while I'm gone."

Red shook her head. "No, I can learn more out there than I can in here. I'm coming with you."

Alec shrugged and made his way toward Nordhagen. "Very well." Red followed suit. Since it was only the middle of the afternoon Nordhagen was still bustling with activity. Most of it seemed to be focused on repairing the damage from the Gunner attack. As they walked toward the center of town they passed a man carrying a load of wood in his arms. Red didn't recognize him until he happened to look their direction. It was the gunner prisoner. Upon seeing them, more specifically, Alec, his face went white and he picked up his pace, putting as much distance as he could between them.

"If I didn't know better," Red thought aloud. "I'd say he's scared of you." She looked over at Alec. "Why is that?"

"I killed a gunner brigadier once."

"Brigadier?"

"They're the highest ranking gunners you'll meet on the field. Very talented and very dangerous."

"Sounds like a good story. Care to tell it?"

Alec shrugged. "Before I left the Commonwealth I discovered a car repair shop that gunners had repurposed into a command center. Their leader was Brigadier Kesselridge. He had a reputation for cruelty, even among the gunners. I wasn't skilled enough to fight them all like I did when I rescued you. Fortunately, I had found a mini-nuke not long before."

Red couldn't contain a laugh. "So you nuked them?'

"Essentially. I waited until three in the morning before I sneaked in and placed the nuke at a structurally unsound part of the shop. After retreating a safe distance I triggered it with a makeshift detonator that Monty had made for me."

"I spoke with her at lunch. She's… unique."

Alec shrugged and continued. "And talented. The mini nuke didn't kill everyone but those who were alive were both groggy and disoriented. I picked them off one by one. I let a few go after they got a good look at me."

"Why did you let them go? That seems a little dangerous. They might hunt you down later."

"They have tried. But letting a few go spread fear and an enemy that is afraid of you have already lost." He went silent, perhaps reliving that day in his mind.

Red thought about what he said as they resumed walking. In a few moments, they reached what she assumed was the Nordhagen market. She had seen it before but hadn't had time to stay long. Several booths were set up in a half circle and each one had a settler selling wares. It wasn't as big as the market in Diamond City and she doubted it had as big of a selection. Alec walked up to what Red guessed was the weapons booth.

"I need ammo, 308s, and 10mm." He told the settler manning the booth.

"How much?"

"Thirty of each"

The man ducked down behind the booth for a few moments before reappearing with two small boxes of ammo. After counting out the correct amount he slid the boxes over to Alec.

"150 caps, please."

Alec handed him the amount and walked over to another booth. For the next half hour, Alec walked around purchasing supplies. Red was content to browse at the different booths. She didn't have any caps but, then again, she didn't need anything at the moment either. When she was a raider, they would often have to go without a lot of things when pickings were slim, so she was used to it

"I need to speak with Gwen," Alec told Red as he placed his last purchase in his pouch. "I'll get you tomorrow morning when it's time to leave."

"Ok. I guess I'll have to find something else to do the rest of the day." Before she turned to walk away, a thought struck her. This one made her smile. "You know, when I first met you I could barely get three words out of you. Now, I'm getting quite a few."

"Hard to train someone with three-word sentences."

Red laughed aloud. "I guess so. Bye."

"Bye."

Red stayed a few more minutes at the market before making her way to her shack. After all the training she had done today, she felt the strong urge to take a short nap. Supper wouldn't be for a few more hours and she didn't have anything better to do, so she saw no reason why she shouldn't. When she arrived she set the old alarm clock the shack had to wake her in a few hours before she dozed off.

* * *

"So, you're set on doing this?" Gwen asked. Alec sat on a chair in front of her as she sat on the couch. He nodded as he injected medicine into his arm.

"Yes. The longer we wait, the more likely the Gunners will attack again."

"What will you do when you return?"

"I'll gather what volunteers we have and attack the base."

"A strong defense is a good offense."

"Yes."

Gwen mulled over the plan in her head. Alec was the most experienced one in Nordhagen when it came to fighting raiders, gunners, mutants, and whatever else roamed beyond their walls. She knew whatever plan he came up with was probably the best one they would get. However, she still didn't like the plan.

"You'll be putting yourself in a lot of danger."

Alec shrugged. "Not new."

"Anyone you bring with you is likely to be seriously injured or killed. They're not as talented as you."

"We have no other alternatives."

Gwen slammed her arm on the end table. "There has to be an alternative!"

"Not that I can see."

Frustrated, Gwen stood up and paced around the room. "I'm tired of you putting yourself in danger! I'm tired of not being able to do anything! I'm tired of feeling helpless!"

"You're not helpless. They wouldn't have elected you mayor if you were. You protect them"

Gwen threw her arms in the air. "And yet I can't protect you from yourself!" She collapsed back onto the couch and buried her head in her hands. "I wish we could go back. Back to when you were just a scavver. Back when the most dangerous thing you did was steal duct tape from strung out raiders." She fought back the tears she could feel building in her eyes,

"I wish we could too." Alec got up from his chair and sat down next her, placing a comforting hand on her leg. Gwen placed her own hand over his.

"But there is no going back." The tears fell free. Alec said nothing. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes before Gwen felt in control enough to speak. "Could you take off your mask? I want to see your face." She knew she was asking a lot. Any time his mask was removed, breathing became painful. She would understand if he refused. But he always obliged her whenever she asked and this time was no exception. Without hesitation, he removed his mask and helmet. Most of his scars never fully healed and his face was covered in them. It was as if a deathclaw tried to tear it off. His skin had gone pale from lack of sunlight, giving him a permanently ill-looking complexion. His hair had gone snow white not long after he had returned from Dunwich and it looked as ragged and unkempt as the rest of him. His most defining facial feature was, however, his eyes. Black as coal. Gwen could never figure out what could cause such a violent change in eye color. It was a shame too. He used to have such lovely green eyes. Gwen placed a gentle hand on his face. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"You did what you could. No one could ask more." Even in his monotone voice, Gwen knew those words were honest and heartfelt. Although Alec had changed greatly, he had not changed as much as others thought he had.

"Be safe and don't keep me waiting. I hate waiting."

"I know." Alec moved to get up but before he could Gwen grabbed the top of his chest piece, holding him down. Before he could question her she planted a quick kiss on his lips. Alec's lips twitched upward, forming a half-smile. Alec returned the favor before standing up and placing his mask and helmet back on. "I'll return as quickly as I can." With that, he walked out the door.


	7. The Rising Storm

As soon as they left Nordhagen in the morning Alec reverted back to using 'Hmm' and 'I see' as his primary form of communication. At one point, he abruptly turned around and spoke directly to her.

"When hunting speak as little as possible. Keep your mind on the hunt only. Any distraction could kill you." He then quickly turned around again and continued walking as if nothing had happened. After getting over her surprise she followed.

As they walked across the Commonwealth she tried to take his advice and contemplate their mission. They were heading over to Mass Bay Medical for light recon. According to the gunner prisoner, that was where the headquarters of the gunners were, at least for the group that attacked Nordhagen. She had never been there herself but she could guess why the gunners might use it as a headquarters. A hospital might have medical supplies and it would definitely have a lot of space.

Red tried to keep her mind on the mission but, inevitably, her mind wandered. Specifically, her mind wandered back to the conversation she had with 'Mad' Monty the day before. Monty had, apparently, designed the suit that Alec wore constantly.

'Why did he need her to design him a suit? It couldn't be for protection. Combat armor would have certainly been more effective.' At the thought, she idly looked at her own combat armor, which she was starting to get used to. The most puzzling thing about Alec's suit was that he never took it off, as far as she knew. She had even seen him sleep in it the first night they had been in Nordhagen. She shuddered at the thought of sleeping in her armor. It couldn't be a comfortable experience. When she had inquired about it he didn't give her an answer. She tried to come up with an explanation on her own but nothing she could think of could explain it. She considered asking him directly again but figured she should probably wait until they made camp for the night at least.

It took them several hours of trekking before they made it to Boston proper. Once they did traveling became slower as they carefully moved from building to building. Outside of Boston, you could go for a while without bumping into anything or anyone, but once you were inside the city you could barely go ten feet without coming across ferals, mutants, and whatever else the Commonwealth felt like throwing at you that day. They hadn't been in Boston for long before they heard shouting in the distance.

Alec motioned for her to be silent as they moved toward the noise. Just as they were about to turn a corner Alec motioned for her to halt. Slowly, he peaked around the corner. Within seconds he pulled his head back. He moved closer to her and spoke in a whisper.

"Raiders, three of them. Toying with a ghoul."

Suddenly there was a scream followed by laughter. Red winced.

"What should we do?"

Alec looked around briefly, then pointed to a blown up car a few feet away. "Take cover behind that and get ready to shoot."

Wordlessly, She obeyed. Once behind the car, she brought her shotgun to the 'ready fire' position. Alec, however, stepped out into the open. Instead of unslinging his rifle and firing, as Red thought he would, he pulled out his pistol and fired several rounds. Once bullets starting flying at him he bolted toward the car jumped behind it, only then unslinging his rifle. Seconds later, three raiders came around the corner guns up and ready. Red fired. At this range, her shotgun was at its most devastating, throwing a raider flat onto his back from the impact. Alec fired next, hitting the second raider square in the chest. The third raider fired a single shot before being flung back from a shotgun blast. With all three dead Alec rose to his feet and casually strode forward to inspect the bodies with Red close behind.

"Good shots." He told her. Red smiled at the compliment. The groans coming from the ghoul caught there attention. He was laying on the ground twenty feet away, clutching his leg. The two of them jogged over to him. When they reached him he didn't seem to acknowledge their presence. The ghoul was in bad shape. The raiders had obviously beaten him severely. His leg appeared to be in the worst shape.

"We can't treat him out here." Alec's head was twisting from left to right, searching for any sign of movement. "Anyone a few blocks away could hear that gunfire and investigate."

"We can't leave him." Red knelt down beside the ghoul who was still moaning in pain. Alec quickly marched up to the door of a nearby building and tried the door handle. It was locked. Without hesitation, he pulled out his handgun and shot it off.

"Bring him in here, hurry."

Red grabbed him and dragged him as fast as she could. The ghoul screamed in pain as the movement aggravated his injured leg. Once they were inside Alec slammed the door shut and slid a table in front of the door. After he was finished he turned his attention to the ghoul. First, he gave the ghoul med-x for the pain then he administered several stimpacks into his leg. As the drugs began to take effect the ghoul's groans became quieter.

"Stay with him for a second," Alec told her as he stood up. "He needs a splint." He then wandered off into another room. Red took a moment to examine the building. It looked like it used to be a bar or restaurant of some kind before the war. Now, it was just another ruined husk of the old world. As she was looking around she heard the gravelly voice of a ghoul.

"Hey, kid." She looked down at the ghoul. He appeared to regain his senses enough that he was just now seeing her. "Where am I?"

"You're in a building. We dragged you in here after we saved you from the raiders."

"Oh, well, thanks." The ghoul looked around. "You said 'we', where's the other one, then?" At that moment, Alec stepped out of the other room holding a piece of wood and some cloth in his hands. "Nevermind."

While Alec knelt down to make the splint Red decided to keep talking to the ghoul. "So, what were you doing out there?"

"Traveling to Goodneighbor. I'm a trader."

"You are? I didn't see any Brahmin around."

"Of course not. I deal with small goods. Stuff you can put in a jacket." He patted his own jacket for emphasis. "Stuff like chems and ammo. Mostly, though, I deal in special high-cap items." Alec finished with the splint and the ghoul sat up. "Normally, people don't think I'm a trader and leave me alone. Which is how I like it outside of town. Today, I guess the raiders were bored and decided to have some fun. Beat me up and found my stock. After that, most of them left but three of them weren't done with me yet. Then, I guess you guys swooped in and saved the day." The ghoul examined his splint and nodded in approval. "Thanks. What are your names?"

"Red."

"Alec."

"My name's Jack. If you guys ever need a favor, let me know."

Before Red could reply Alec spoke up.

"'Sticky-finger' Jack?"

Jack's eyes bulged in surprise. "What! Where did you hear that?"

"I think we've met before. Several years ago."

Jack scratched his head and muttered to himself. "Alec, Alec, Alec. Where have I heard that name before?" Red couldn't almost hear the gears in his head click into place. "'Sneak?' Alec the Sneak?" Alec nodded. Jack laughed in amusement. "What are the odds? How have you been? I didn't recognize you in that outfit of yours."

"I am well."

Jack cocked his head to the side. "You talk differently too. Are you sure you're 'The Sneak.'"

"Yes."

"Wait a minute." Red made a 'time-out' sign. "How do you two know each other?"

"Scavvers tend to bump into each other a lot." Jack struggled to his feet and hobbled over to a nearby chair and sat down. "Normally, those meetings end up with one or both parties shot. We actually worked together to steal a stockpile of grenades from some Raiders."

Red turned to Alec. "You used to be a scavver?"

Alec shrugged. "That was years ago."

"What about the nicknames? 'The Sneak?' 'Sticky-Finger?'

Jack gave a sly grin. "Trade secret."

Red looked to Alec who, surprisingly, nodded affirmation. Before Red could ask a follow-up question Jack spoke.

"So, if you're no longer a scavver, Sneak, what do you do now?"

"Kill raiders, gunners, and the like."

Jack opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. He looked confused. As if he didn't know how to reply to that. Eventually, he managed an "Ah, I see." Red decided to speak up before awkward silence followed.

"Have you been near Mass Bay Medical recently?"

The ghoul raised an eyebrow. "I passed by it a few hours ago. Was planning on taking a look around for anything good but saw the gunners there and decided to move along before they saw me. Why?"

Alec interjected. "How many did you see?"

"There were a couple wandering around outside but I didn't stick around very long."

"Did you notice what designs they had on their armor?"

Jack rubbed his chin for a few moments. "I think I saw one with a sort of 'claw' design and another had a bird, I think."

Instantly Alec shot to his feet and marched over to the door and practically threw the table out of the way.

"We're leaving." He declared. "Now."

Jack and Red both looked at each other in confusion. Red spoke up. "Why? What's the…"

"Now!" He shouted the word with such force that Red stepped back as if he had taken a swing at her. Before either of them could reply, he spoke again, a bit calmer. "I'll explain on the way."

"I guess I'm going with you guys, wouldn't be smart to travel alone with a bum leg," Jack said as he stood up. "I can walk, but not fast."

"Are you sure?" Red asked, looking at his leg skeptically.

"Yes." Jack limped several steps forward. He was obviously keeping undo pressure of his bad leg but he seemed to be managing. Red looked at Alec to see what he thought, but he was poking his head outside and not paying attention to them. When he did look back he only motioned for them to follow. Which they did. They couldn't travel as fast with a crippled ghoul but Alec didn't seem to notice the slower pace or, if he did, didn't say anything. For his part, he had his rifle out and was constantly looking left and right, as if expecting an attacked at any moment.

"So, you gonna tell us what's going on, or are you just going to try to drag us across the Commonwealth in silence?" Jack asked.

"He will if you let him," Red replied. Alec briefly looked over his shoulder at them before continuing his mad inspection of their surroundings.

"Gunner crews have unique designs to distinguish themselves from other groups. If what Jack says is true, then there are two gunner crews in that building."

Red was confused. "I thought you said gunners didn't interact with other gunner groups."

"Usually, that is true. Sometimes though, they may work together if they believe the prize is worth the loss of face."

Red felt her heart begin to race. "So, you think…" Alec didn't wait for her to finish.

"Potentially two groups of gunners are about to attack Nordhagen."

Something Alec had said several days ago came to Red's mind and it made her blood run cold. "So, potentially, sixty gunners could be attacking Nordhagen in the near future."

"If not more."

Red gulped. Jack, who had been silently listening up to this point, decided to speak up.

"Normally, I'd say 'screw this' and leave you guys to fight an army."

"Normally?" Red asked.

"Unfortunately for me, I owe you two for saving my life," He grumbled. "And, unfortunately, I don't like owing people. What do you plan on doing about this, Alec? I've never been to Nordhagen but I doubt they can fight that many gunners all at once."

"I don't know," Alec admitted. Red's already tense nerves were being pushed to their limits. She began to consider making a break for it right now and getting as far away from all this as she could. "But, we need to warn Nordhagen as soon as possible."

* * *

They didn't make it back to Nordhagen until late that night. When they did make it they woke up Gwen who gathered everyone of importance to hear the news. Gathered in the town hall, they took the news in grim silence. Everyone was sitting down in chairs surrounding a table with a map. It reminded Red of the last time the Gunners attacked, except with more people. In the dimly lit building, Red could only see a few faces clearly, none of the expressions they wore boosted her morale. Once Alec finished people began to yell at each other.

"We can't stay here. We should evacuate the whole town!"

"We have no place to go!"

"We can go to Diamond City, they certainly have room."

"We'll never make it with this many people!"

"Yeah, we'll be slaughtered out in the open by God knows what before we make it!"

"We can't fight them!"

"We lost five people last time and were holding on by the skin of our teeth!"

"Everyone will die if they attack us!"

The shouting continued for several minutes. While it was going on Red looked around. Sarge looked like he had aged ten years and hadn't slept in weeks. Gwen looked defeated with her head in her hands. Jack was nervously tapping his foot while smoking a cigarette. Alec, as always, betrayed no emotion.

"Enough!" The sudden ear-piercing shout got everyone's attention. Gwen, the source of the shout, was standing up, her defeated look replaced with one of iron-hard resolve. "This is getting us nowhere!" She turned to Alec. "What do you know about these gunner crews?"

"The ones with the claw marks are the ones who attacked us before. I am not familiar with them. I do know the ones with the bird design. They are the 'Crows.' They were led by Kesselridge until several years ago. They were known for brutality back then and I doubt they have changed much since."

"Are those the only two crews attacking us?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know. More could attack. If two crews were willing to work together then it's not impossible more might be in on the attack." This was followed with more groans and shouts from those gathered. Gwen ordered silence again.

"If we leave, we die. If we stay, we die." Red muttered.

"Not much in the way of options." Jack agreed.

Gwen kept her composure. "What do you think we should do, Alec?"

"Fight."

"How?" Someone shouted. Gwen glared daggers into the crowd.

Alec stepped forward and looked down at the table with the map. "I need time."

Gwen nodded agreement. "Everyone, out." People began to disperse, whispering to each other as they left.

"Monty!" Alec shouted. Monty, who was moving to leave, turned around with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes?"

"A word, please?"

Monty shrugged and walked over. "What'cha need?"

"That project you've been working on… how soon until its ready?"

"I dunno, it's been a side project for the most part. A few hours here, a few minutes there. I haven't even tested it yet."

"What if you devoted all your time to it?"

Monty could only give a non-committal shrug. "A week? Maybe more?"

"Hmm. What about the M.O.A.B.?"

Monty's eyes widened and she backed up. "Woah, woah. That's just a prototype I built! I don't even know if it will work!"

"I think it may be time to test it in the field."

"No. It's too dangerous!"

"Hey!" Jack shouted. "Mind filling us in on what you're talking about?" Gwen, Sarge, and Red nodded agreement. Alec turned toward them and motioned to Monty.

"She has something that we could use."

"I said no!"

"What is it?" Sarge asked, clearly annoyed.

"It's a bomb." Monty clarified. "A very powerful bomb I built from scratch."

"So why can't we use it?" Gwen asked. "We need all the help we can get."

"Because there are a lot of tests I need to run it to make sure everything works."

"Then why can't you just do the tests?" Red asked.

"Because it's such a big bomb, anywhere nearby I would think of testing it is too close to Nordhagen for comfort. You know, in case anything went wrong."

"We don't have the time anyway." Alec was shaking his head as he spoke. "We need to even the odds now." Monty looked like she was about to explode into a tirade before Gwen interjected.

"Alec, why don't you explain your plan to us first?"

"Lure as many gunners out of their base as I can. Kill gunners with the bomb. Simple."

"And dangerous!" Monty practically shouted. "I don't know what distance is safe for remote detonation. It would be a suicide mission, at best."

"I've had worse odds."

"Well I don't c-"

"Do you have a better plan?"

Monty froze. "I… no"

"I don't like this plan, but it's the only one I have." He turned back to everyone else. "Unless any of you have something better?" No one said a word. He looked back to Monty, who sighed.

"Fine, but no one…" she motioned in everyone's general direction. "...can hold me responsible if something goes wrong, agreed?"

"Agreed." Alec took a deep breath. "I leave in the morning with the M.O.A.B." Red was about to ask him a question before he pointed at her. "Not this time. I go alone. Period." With that, he walked out. Red turned to Jack.

"How did he know what I was going to ask?"

"How many times have you asked the same question?"

Red thought about it for a moment. "A few times."

"Well, there you go."

Whilst the two of them were talking Gwen tapped Sarge's shoulder to get his attention.

"You should send one of your men to get word to the Minutemen. Any help they can send could be vital." Sarge nodded agreement and Gwen slipped out of the building. Sarge sighed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

* * *

"I've told Sarge to send word to the Minutemen," Gwen told Alec once she caught up.

"Any help will be good."

They walked in silence for several minutes. They left Nordhagen and made their way to Fort Strong. Once there Alec sat down on a flat rock outcrop and watched the eastern horizon. Gwen sat next to him.

"You're not going to try to convince me not to go through with this plan?" He asked.

"Is there anything I can say to convince you?"

"No."

"Then there is no point." She scooted over and leaned her head on his shoulder. "What are the chances that Nordhagen survives?"

"Not good. Perhaps you should consider leaving, for your safety."

Gwen stared at him, shocked. "Run away? When Nordhagen needs leadership the most?"

"You could be killed."

"I'm surprised you would suggest the coward's way out!" She felt her face begin to turn red in anger. "I'm not abandoning Nordhagen when they need me!"

"I don't want you to die."

Gwen's anger abated as quickly as it came. "I don't want you to die, either." She gripped his hand in hers. "But if you must still be 'Raider Slayer' in spite of the risks, then I must still be the mayor, in spite of the risks."

"I see."

Gwen could make out disappointment creeping into his monotone voice. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze to comfort him. "Promise me you'll do everything you can to stay alive and I'll promise to do the same." For a moment, the only sound was the sea. Alec continued to stare eastward.

"I promise."

Gwen gave a tired smile. "Then I promise, too." She felt herself begin to drift off. Despite her best efforts, she fell asleep, still resting on Alec's shoulder. He glanced at her but didn't otherwise move. He continued to watch the horizon, waiting for the sunrise he didn't want to come. The sunrise that might be the last one he ever saw.


	8. Opening Shots

Despite Alec's hopes, dawn came as it usually did. As soon as the sun rose he made his preparations. Extra ammo, extra grenades, whatever he thought he might need, he grabbed. Monty found him and quickly briefed him on how to use safely use and detonate the bomb before they walked to the gate together. When they finished they walked to the west gate, which they noticed was open. Gwen, Red, Jack, and Sarge were waiting for them. Once they arrived Monty, reluctantly, handed Alec the bomb which, at first glance, looked like a briefcase.

"Alright." She took a deep breath. "When you at the place you want to set the bomb, open it and punch in the password, 4822. Then, retreat to a safe distance, take cover and detonate with the remote."

"Understood."

"Be very careful with it. If you bang it around too much you might damage the internals and screw something up."

Red subconsciously took a step back. "It's not going to blow up randomly, is it?"

"No!" Realizing she had shouted, she took another deep breath to try to ease her nerves. "It won't be armed until after he puts in the password. Once he does though… well, I wouldn't kick it to find out."

"Understood." As Alec stepped toward the gate Sarge stepped in front of him.

"I think I speak for all of Nordhagen when I say thank you." He shook hands with him. "This is a huge risk you're taking on our behalf."

"I know."

After he released Sarge's hand Gwen gave him a firm hug. She tried to say something but it caught in her throat. Instead, she let go of Alec and looked away, avoiding eye contact.

Jack was next, he gave Alec a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Good luck."

Finally, Alec turned to Red. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Don't read this until I'm gone."

Red frowned, puzzled. "Okay, but what is it?"

Alec ignored the question and walked out the gate in silence. Everyone watched him until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, Red looked down at the paper he had given her. Slowly, she unfolded it. Only two words were written on it. Her mouth hung open in shock and she looked out to the spot she had last seen Alec. Curious, Monty tried to look over Red's shoulder.

"What did it say?"

Red instantly crumpled the paper in her hand and quickly walked away, leaving everyone else glancing at each other, confused. Thoughts were swirling in her head and mile a minute. She needed to be alone to sort them out. She made her way to her shack and slammed the door behind her. Alone, she looked down at the paper and read the words again.

'_I knew.'_

She whispered the words to herself as she slumped to the floor.

'_I knew'_

"If you knew, then why?" She muttered, "Why?"

* * *

Alec traveled in silence once he left Nordhagen. There was no reason to talk, so listened to the sounds of the world around him. He found the Commonwealth surprisingly quiet when he wasn't in the middle of a gunfight, which wasn't often. Ever since Dunwich he never felt quite right unless he was fighting. Before Dunwich the idea of taking a life had made him sick. Now, killing raiders, gunners and the like was one of the few pleasures he had. Sometimes, though, it filled him with dread. Not the fact that he was killing, but the fear that he might not make it out alive. He knew that although he acted like nothing scared him, death still did.

Most of the time, he could easily ignore this fear. He could reassure himself that he was skilled and smart enough to make it out of whatever situation he put himself in. Some situations, like this one, relied more on luck or, as one of his teachers told him, 'fate.' Both were things he couldn't control but fate bothered him the most out of the two. Was there really some things that were predestined to happen, no matter what someone did? Was fate orchestrated by a higher power of some kind? He often asked himself these questions but he could never come up with a satisfying answer. What happened at Dunwich gave him questions, but it gave him no concrete answers. One of his past teachers, Wade, probably would have had an answer; but they had parted ways some time ago and Alec doubted they would ever see each other again.

After many hours of trekking, he was a few blocks from Mass Bay Medical. He figured now would be a good time to rest and check in. once he found a suitable building and barricaded the door, he turned on his headset that was attached to his helmet. One of the things he had done before he left was to get Monty to attach a small 2-way radio to the inside of his helmet so he could communicate with everyone through her radio

"Monty, can you hear me?"Silence. He adjusted the frequency. "Monty, can you hear me?" Nothing. He made another adjustment. "Monty, are you there?" This he heard something. He listened closely. Snoring, it was definitely snoring. He shook his head and inhaled deeply, then shouted. "Monty!" There was a crash followed by several choice curses.

"Yes, I'm here. Have you reached Mass Bay Medical?"

"I'm a few blocks away. Is anyone else there with you?"

"Gwen is in the other room. Should I get her?"

"What is she doing in your house?"

He heard her sigh. "She's camped in here waiting for word since you left." Before Alec could say anything he heard a door open and Gwen's voice through the radio.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah," Monty confirmed, "he just called in a few seconds ago."

"Are you okay, Alec?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He poked his head out of a broken window and looked around. It was getting near sundown and the street was empty except a few ruined cars. Alec stepped back, an idea forming in his head.

"Monty, what is the range on the detonator again?"

"Maximum should, theoretically, be one hundred and fifty feet, but I don't know if it will work at that range."

He looked out the window again, first to the left. In the middle of the street was a wrecked car. An object that looked like a suitcase wouldn't appear out of place. Down the street to the right was a semi-truck that had flipped over. He guessed the two vehicles were a little over a hundred feet apart. Well within range of the detonator.

"All right, I going to begin setting up the trap, I will need radio silence. I'll contact you when this is all over."

"Understood," Monty replied. Before he turned off his headset her heard Gwen speak up again.

"Be careful, Alec."

"I will." He told her before he shut off the headset. Now was the time to get to work.

* * *

As soon as Alec cut off Gwen returned to pacing back and forth. Monty sighed. She had been doing it practically non-stop ever since Alec had left. Currently, there was nothing that needed to be done around the settlement so there was nothing for her to burn her nervous energy on.

"Perhaps you should get something to eat?" Monty offered. It wasn't much, but it might at least get her out of her house. "It's about dinner time isn't it?"

"Yes." Gwen glanced at the radio, clearly not wanting to leave.

"It will be some time before he calls back. You won't miss anything if you grab a quick bite."

"Okay," Gwen conceded. "I'll be right back, though." With one last longing look at the radio, she walked out.

"I'm sure you will," Monty whispered to herself. She looked around her house, looking for something to do while she waited. Her 'house' was more like a workshop than a home. Bits and pieces were scattered everywhere and half-finished projects were lying on several tables. "I should really clean up." She thought to herself. She had told herself that many times but she never did. Between all the projects she was working on she never found time to do any cleanup. The mess didn't bother her that much anyway.

As her eyes wandered they landed on a rifle that was sitting on a nearby table. She walked over and picked it up. It was an M1 Garand. It was an old gun even before the bombs fell. A trader had sold it to her very cheap since it didn't work. She had intended to spend time tinkering with it but she had been distracted, as she often was, by other projects. Having nothing else to do, she took it apart to try to find what was wrong with it. It didn't take her long to find out. Some of the parts had rusted into place. It was an easy fix, most just needed cleaning. A few parts needed to be replaced and she had plenty of spare parts on hand. Soon enough she had engrossed herself in the work. After only a few minutes Gwen walked back in.

"Any word, yet?"

"Hmm?" Monty looked up from her work. "Oh right. No, not yet." While she returned to her work Gwen returned to nervously waiting nearby. Just as Monty was putting a part into the gun static roared from the radio. In the static, she could make out Alec's voice.

"Monty, are you there?" Both of the women practically leaped to the radio. His voice sounded ragged and they could hear gunfire in the background.

"Yes, I am here. What's wrong?" Monty adjusted the frequency from the radio, trying to clear up the static. Alec said something but they couldn't make it out.

"Please repeat." She asked as she continued to work with the radio.

"It didn't work."

The women glanced at each other with a mix of worry and confusion. "What do you mean? What didn't work?"

"The detonator isn't working. The light on the detonator is red and the bomb won't go off."

Monty could feel sweat beginning to form on her forehead. The red light meant the signal wasn't getting through "How far away are you?"

"About a hundred feet."

"That should be well within range. Was the bomb damaged in any way?"

"Not that I know off." Several loud bangs followed. Probably Alec firing his gun.

Monty quickly ran through every scenario she could think off in her head. "Perhaps there's some sort of interference. Perhaps a large number of radioactive materials nearby? Do you see any?"

"No, I-" Alec cut himself off. "What did Union Co. transport?"

Monty wiped the sweat from her head. "If I had to guess, it's probably radioactive." That explained the static and the bomb not working. Thankfully the radio had a more powerful signal otherwise it too would be out of commission.

"Is there anything he can do?" Gwen asked, visibly shaking. Monty tried to ignore her and focus on Alec.

"You'll need to put some distance between you and the radiation. Getting closer to the bomb might help as well."

"But that will put him in more danger!"

"It's the only thing I can think of. Keep an eye on the light. When it turns green the signal is getting through."

"Alright." There was a grunt and more loud bangs. They could hear his footsteps through the radio as he ran. As he ran the gunfire never abated. Then a cry of pain followed by a wordless shout. After several more bangs, Alec spoke again. His voice was even more ragged and weak.

"The signal... is getting through."

Gwen immediately spoke. "Alec, are you okay?"

"...fine."

"You don't sound…"

"Stop." The quiet order silenced Gwen who was beginning to look sick. Monty then asked the question that she didn't want the answer to.

"How far are you from the bomb?"

"Maybe… thirty feet."

Monty eyes bulged and her face went white as a sheet.

"Is that a safe distance?" Gwen asked. She got no answer. Monty appeared frozen in place, eyes locked forward and Alec remained silent on the other end. "Is that a safe distance?" She was yelling at this point but still, there was no answer. She grabbed Monty by her shirt and shook her, repeating herself and trying to get a response.

"Gwen…"

It was only one word, but it shivered through her spine and chilled her. The normal monotone voice Alec usually spoke with was gone, replaced by a voice Gwen hadn't heard in years. At that moment, he was truly Alec again. Not Raider Slayer but Alec, the man she had fallen in love with years ago. The man she had watched devolve into a husk. The man who was now fighting for his life on the other side of the radio. So close yet so far away. She turned to the radio and gulped.

"I'm here, Alec."

"Gwen… I'm sorry. I tried."

Gwen gripped the edge of the table so tightly her knuckles turned white. She knew what he was about to do and she was powerless to stop him. She could barely manage to whisper one word.

"Don't."

"Goodbye."

"No!" She screamed as a deafening roar erupted from the radio. She collapsed onto the ground, her head in her hands as she tried in vain to hold back the wave of tears pouring down her cheeks.

* * *

Red had needed a distraction once Alec had left so she spent the whole day training. By that evening Red had pushed her body to its limits. She was so worn out that walking from Fort Strong to Nordhagen was a great effort.

Dinner was a silent affair. No one bothered her or more than glanced her direction. The whole settlement seemed to have an eerie quiet to it now, even more so than before the first gunner attack. The settlement felt empty too. When she left the dining hall and walked around she hardly saw anyone. Red guessed that news of the impending gunner attack had gotten around and everyone, realizing the next few days might be their last, didn't feel like socializing.

Hoping for news about Alec, Red made her way to Monty's house. Monty had told her that she would be standing by the radio all day for word from Alec so it was a good place to start. When she arrived she knocked on the door. When the door opened Red knew immediately something had gone wrong. Monty, who had opened the door, looked worn out, with bags under her eyes and her posture stuck in a slouch. She motioned for her to come in. As she stepped in Red could see Gwen sitting on a couch. Gwen looked as if she had aged ten years in one day and when she looked up at Red, she could see that she had been crying.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Monty nodded confirmation. Red hadn't known Alec for long, but she couldn't help but feel terrible. Alec, for all his annoying quirks, had been a good man. Red sat down in a chair opposite of Gwen and tried to think of something to break the dreary silence. "So, what do we do now?"  
"Well," Monty said, "The only thing we can do is prepare. We don't know how many gunners he took with him when he…" She trailed off, unable or unwilling to finish the sentence. Red finished it for her.

"Dead, but we should assume that an attack is still coming. Better safe than sorry."

"Yes. You sticking around?"

Red frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, this isn't your home. You don't have to stay. This is our home, our fight." Monty sat down next Gwen, who didn't acknowledge her presence. "No one would think badly of you if you walked away."

To be honest, she had been considering it. The odds were stacked against Nordhagen. In all likelihood, it would be a massacre. But anytime her instincts to run were beginning to win out, she thought about Alec. He had probably faced odds like this many times. He had risked his life more times than probably anyone in Nordhagen and he had saved her life. For that, she owed him big time.

"No, I'll stay."

"Why?" Monty shook her head, confused. "You don't owe us anything."

"No, but I owe him."

Monty nodded. "He saved you from raiders, right?"

"Yeah."

"That isn't everything, is it?" Red jumped in surprise at Gwen's voice. There's some other reason you're staying. Why are you risking everything to help people you barely know?"

Red turned away and stared out the window. There was one other reason.

"Can you two keep a secret?"

Monty and Gwen looked at each other, confused, before nodding their heads.

"Before the raiders took me prisoner I…" She took a deep breath before forcing the next words out. "...used to be a raider myself." Monty and Gwen's eyes widened, but she continued. "I've done a lot of things I regret. Alec apparently knew I was a raider, but he saved me anyway and gave me a second chance. A chance to do something good for a change. By all rights, I should be dead; either with my old gang or my kidnappers. But I'm not. I am here and I am staying.

* * *

The commander slammed his fist on the desk.

"Twenty dead?" He shouted at his subordinates. "And almost as many wounded? How did this happen?" The most senior of the subordinates present spoke up, obviously nervous.

"W-well, it would appear that an improvised explosive was placed in the middle of the street where our men were lured out before the bomb was detonated." Another man spoke up.

"Wounded say it was the 'Reaper.'"

The commander groaned and dropped into his chair. "This again? The same 'Reaper' that supposedly killed Kesselridge? Save your boogeyman stories."

"Reaper or not." continued the second man. "It appears the man was killed in the detonation. According to the survivors he was well within kill range of the bomb."

The commander grunted. There was some satisfaction in that, but dead or not, he still cost them men.

"Has the body of the perpetrator been found?"

"No sir, but with all the rubble it could take days to find it. If it wasn't incinerated."

"Then we won't waste the time. Lt. Peterson."

"Yes, sir?"

"Find us conscripts to replace the men we lost."

"Yes, sir." The Lt. quickly stepped out of the room.

"Sergeant."

"Yes, sir?"

"Have our men make as many explosives as possible."

The sergeant nodded and walked out.

"Everyone else, return to your duties."

Everyone left the room except one man, the most senior officer under the commander.

"You have something to say, captain?"

"Is this extra preparation necessary? Even with our losses we outnumber and outgun Nordhagen."

"We did the last time too, yet they managed to beat us. We need to press every advantage we have, not just numbers." The commander stood up and examined a map on his wall. "we will proceed with more caution this time. First, we will block them in. No one leaves and no one enters. Then, we will use every explosive we have to tear down their walls. Only after that will the main push begin."

"The expense will be high." The captain noted.

"The reward will be higher. You're dismissed."

The captain nodded and walked out, leaving the commander alone with his thoughts.

"Soon," he thought aloud. "Nordhagen first, then Diamond City."

* * *

A few blocks from Mass Bay Medical rubble was strewn everywhere. The explosion, much larger than Monty had anticipated, had torn a crater in the center of the street and launched everything in the vicinity. A neighboring building had collapsed as well, covering the entire street in its debris. Bodies, or what remained of them, were scattered about as well. Most were missing limbs and some were barely recognizable as human. Some ways down the street, a semi lay on its side. The explosion hadn't moved it but it had torn it open, allowing radioactive waste to spill out. Not far from the truck underneath several feet of rubble was a single, unmoving body.


	9. Dunwich Horrors

Alec never felt the knife that was shoved into his heart, only cold, and then darkness. When he awoke, however, he was in searing agony. He woke with a sharp gasp as if someone was force feeding him air. The next sensation was heat, quickly followed by the pain and smell of burning skin. Yelling in pain he tried to stand but tumbled back into the flames, causing even more pain. On his second attempt, he managed to crawl away on all fours. Although he was away from the flames, his clothes and his skin were still on fire. Screaming in pain all the while, he rolled around and beat his clothes and skin with his hands, trying to put the fires out. With a few moments of effort, he managed to succeed. Once he was no longer at risk from the flames he collapsed and took a moment to catch his breath. His entire body ached and was covered in burns but for now, he was alive.

"How?" He whispered to himself. He remembered the knife and tried to pull away his shirt to look at his chest. The shirt tore in his hands, burnt by the fire. On his chest was a fresh stab wound over his heart "What? That's not…" Before he could ponder further he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the familiar yellow of a radiation waste bin. The bin was breached. He yelped in surprise and stumbled backward as fast as he could until his back was against the wall. His heart was beating a mile a minute. The radiation from the barrel should be killing him at this distance, or at least making him sick, but he felt nothing. In fact, there were several barrels lying around, including one right next to where he stopped.

Looking back at where he came it appeared to be a garbage heap. Along with the burning trash, there was something else in the pile. He winced at it. After a moment's confusion it clicked, it was a body, several bodies. As soon as he realized what he was looking at the smell hit him and he threw up. Garbage, smoke, burning corpses, had created a sickening smell.

Once he finished throwing up he, without thinking, wiped his mouth with one of his burnt arms. Surprisingly, he felt no pain. Surprisingly, he felt no pain. Confused, even more, he examined his arms. Although he could see that they had been burned, they were healing rapidly in front of his eyes. He quickly looked at his chest again. What had been a fresh stab wound was now scarring.

"What is… I have to get out of here." It was too much to comprehend right then. He struggled to his feet and took several steps forward and was met by a very surprised looking raider.

The two of them stared at each other for several seconds in shock. The raider, regaining his senses, quickly drew his pistol and fired several rounds. The rounds slammed into Alec's chest and he stumbled back onto a radiation barrel, but he didn't collapse. Alec stared at his chest, where the bullets had hit. Blood was dripping out of the holes but soon the bullets fell out of his chest onto the ground and wounds had sealed up. Alec looked up again and saw the raider looking as shocked as he was.

_Kill. _A whisper in his head.

Just as the raider was raising his pistol again to take another shot, Alec, without thinking, leaped forward and tackled him. The wind was immediately knocked out of the raider and he dropped his gun.

Alec felt his blood boiling inside of him and without realizing what he was doing, punched the raider in the face, repeatedly. He didn't stop until the raider's face was a mangled mess, unrecognizable as a person. When he threw his last punch he realized what he had just done and stared at his hands, which were covered in blood. Shakely, he rose to his feet.

"What is going on here?" Before he could try to rationalize an answer he heard fast moving footsteps heading his way. Knowing he only had seconds, he grabbed the dead raiders gun and ammo. He looked around and found no cover so he knelt down on one knee and aimed the gun down the hall. As soon as he could see a faint silhouette he fired repeatedly. The silhouette fell but another appeared behind it. The figure fired back. By some miracle all the shots missed and Alec fired again. The second figure collapsed and the hall was silent.

Cautiously, Alec moved forward and examined the two bodies. They were dressed and armed the same as the raider he killed before so he gathered their ammo as well. There was no telling how much ammo he would need before the day was out. One had a molotov cocktail and a lighter as well, which he grabbed. Once he grabbed anything useful he moved forward again.

He made it a few yards before the world seemed to shake violently. Alec pressed himself against the wall to keep himself from falling over. As he did his head began to pound painfully and his vision blurred like he was having the worst hangover of his life. He also began to feel violently sick. In his delirium, he could hear something echoing in the distance.

"Vir spurius de prioribus surrexit. Vade et subicite eo."

He was certain it was someone speaking but he couldn't understand it. When the voice stopped his strange symptoms subsided.

With no time to think about it, he kept moving. The path twisted and turned but it seemed to be going steadily uphill.

'Good.' he thought. 'If I'm still in the quarry, then the best direction I can go is up.'

In the distance, he heard more footsteps. This time it sounded like a large group of people. With no cover behind him, he rushed forward, hoping to find something before they reached him. His luck held, soon the hall opened up into a small room with old quarrying equipment scattered about. Quickly, he ducked behind a forklift and waited. It wasn't long before several raiders appeared. With a quick glimpse, he could see at least five ahead of him all with mining helmets that had lights on them. He made himself as small as possible as the lights swept across the room.

"Nothing here." he heard one bark. "Let's go." The raiders rushed forward and, in their hurry didn't see him in his hiding place. As they thundered past Alec grabbed the cocktail. Once they entered the constricted hallway that he came from, he lit and threw it. It was a perfect throw, landing square in the middle of the raiders. They screamed in pain as they tried to put out the flames. Before they had a chance, Alec fired into the group. Within seconds, the five raiders were burning corpses. Just as Alec began to stand up the quarry began to shake again. The pain, blurriness, and queasiness returned instantly along with the voice.

"Et dedere. Magister tuus adiungetur."

Alec gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to pass, which it did. He stood up and checked his ammo. He only had a few bullets left. He glanced at the corpses, still smoking. Grimacing, he rummaged through the corpses to find more ammo. Once he was finished he had a few clips of spare ammo. Before he left the room he looked at the corpses one last time. Subconsciously, a grin began to play at his lips, but he moved on before he could realize it.

The quarry compressed into a small hallway again. As he trekked onward he heard nothing. No footsteps or weird voices. The silence made him uneasy. Up ahead there was a sharp turn to the right. Just as he was going to turn the corner he stopped. His instincts from years as a scavver kicked in. A sharp corner, he knew, was an ideal spot for an ambush. So, he pressed his back to the wall and waited, listening.

A few minutes passed without a sound, except for the random creaks and groans of the quarry. He was beginning to think the coast was clear when he heard whispering. He couldn't make out the words but he could tell it was close by. He held his breath and waited for the footsteps of someone coming to see if he was there. Sure enough, footsteps soon followed. Alec took a half step back down the hall and aimed his gun where he guessed the raider's head would be. His guess proved spot on. The raider's head passed right in front of his gun and before the raider had a chance to realize he was there, he put a hole in his head.

Alec whipped around the corner and saw two more surprised raiders. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He pulled it again. Nothing. His heart sunk. The gun had jammed. Normally, this could be quickly fixed, but the raiders were not giving him a chance. One, armed with a sledgehammer, rushed forward and swung down at Alec's head. He managed to step back and avoid the killing blow but he couldn't dodge the raider's second swing, which hit his right hand, shattering his gun and his hand at the same time. Alec screamed in pain and his vision went red.

_Kill._ The word rang through his head. It hadn't come from him, but he had heard it in his head.

Alec thought he had blacked out from the pain but when he 'came to' he was holding the sledgehammer in his left hand and two raider corpses lay on the ground with mangled skulls. Horrified, he dropped the sledgehammer and slumped to the ground.

"What is wrong with me?" He asked to no one in particular. Nothing made sense. He should be dead several times over and yet, here he was, blood-soaked and with voices in his head. He shook his head, frustrated. He wouldn't find answers lying on the ground. He had to go. He grabbed the sledgehammer with his left hand and continued onward. As he passed the raider corpses he briefly glanced down at them. Instead of feeling sick, he felt a grim satisfaction stir in him.

'There is a strange fun to killing raider scum.' The thought startled him as soon as he had it. Before he could dwell on it long the pain in his right arm drew his attention. It was definitely broken in multiple places. Even the most subtle movement of his fingers sent excruciating pain through his hand. Alec gritted his teeth and tried his best to ignore the pain.

The path opened up again, this time to a small room. It was devoid of anything man-made, with the only defining feature being a large hole in the center filled with water. Cautiously, he peered into the water. Glowing radioactive mushrooms dotted around and within the hole, leaving him in no doubt that it was heavily contaminated with radiation. He was about to turn away when he remembered when the first raider had shot him. When he fell onto the radiation barrel the wounds had healed rapidly. Perhaps the same thing would happen here? Hesitantly, he knelt down next to the pool and submerged his broken hand in the water.

Instantly, pain shot through his hand. He screamed in pain but forced himself to keep his hand in the water. Aside from the pain, he could feel the bones in his hand moving back into place. After a few seconds, the pain stopped. As he pulled his hand from the water he flexed his fingers experimentally. No pain, his hand was completely healed. Both relieved and unsettled he stood up and turned to continue down the path.

Standing in his way were three raiders that Alec swore weren't there a moment ago. Realizing they had been seen, the lead raider rushed him with a knife. Alec instinctively swung his sledgehammer. The first raider had no time to react before his head was crushed. The other two, after seeing their friend killed, briefly glanced at each other, then bolted back the direction they came.

_Kill. _A command, pushing him forward.

Alec roared and, without thinking, rushed after them. Fueled by fear, the raiders managed to rush far ahead of him. After a few seconds of running, Alec entered a large room a decent sized building could have fit in. He remembered it well. It was where they had killed him and the Minutemen he had been with. The room was built like a large theater, with dozens of chairs and benches set up. It was well lit by lanterns and floodlights, contrasting it from the dark of the rest of the quarry. The central piece of the room was a stone altar, stained red. All over the room were raiders and at the altar was a man in a black robe and hood. At his feet were the two raiders Alec had been chasing, now dead on the ground. As soon as he entered the entire room turned it's attention to him. The robed figure pointed a pale finger at him.

"Et adduc eum ad me contineo."

Although he couldn't understand the words, the tone was not lost on him. The figure was annoyed and angry and was giving orders to the raiders present. When he spoke the pain and queasiness returned.

"Shut up." He growled through clenched teeth.

The figure laughed, a sickly sound, and the raiders began to move toward him. Unlike the other raiders, their movements were unsettlingly calm and deliberate. They were unnervingly quite, speaking not a single word as they moved toward him. Their faces were also frozen in a neutral expression.

Alec, on the other hand, was far from silent. _Kill them all. _The voice commanded and Alec roared. He lunged at the nearest raider with mad ferocity, caving in his chest with a blow from his sledgehammer. Alec felt white-hot rage boil within him. Anger he had never felt before. It took him over and energized him. Now, he did not think, he only attacked. He felt nothing except the rage. He saw nothing except the enemy in front of him. He heard nothing, except the crunch of the hammer against bones.

The raiders did not scream when struck. They only collapsed to the ground with the same, unfeeling look in their faces.

As he brought the sledgehammer down on another raider he became vaguely aware of the hooded man shouting more. Alec didn't catch the words but the man's tone had become panicked. His minions seemed to react to his tone and their attacks became frenzied. When the hooded man spoke Alec didn't feel a headache or any queasiness. Realizing this, Alec laughed like a maniac set loose from prison. A raider managed to slash Alec's arm with a dagger but Alec swatted him aside, sending the raider flying into a wall.

"Is this all you've got?" Alec continued to laugh as he continued his killing spree. The hooded man ducked into a dark hallway, trying to escape while he still had raiders to slow Alec down. "Come back!" Alec roared at him. "I'm not finished!" A raider jumped onto his back, causing him to stumble. He tried to rip him off his back but the raider stubbornly held on. Unable to throw him off, Alec slammed him against a wall. After a few attempts, the raider slid lifelessly off his back.

Alec rushed toward the hall the hooded man had disappeared down but the few remaining raiders threw themselves at him with suicidal recklessness. A few of them managed to cut him badly but they too were crushed the sledgehammer.

Finally, after a minute or two more of fighting, all the raiders around him were dead. Without them holding him back, he rushed down the dark hallway. In his rush, he didn't see the tripwire, nearly invisible in the dark. All he heard was the faint snapping of wire and a sharp 'click' sound. When he turned in the direction of the click he saw a flamer pointed right at him.

Instead of shooting flame, as he expected, it gave off a long 'hiss' with nothing appearing to happen. Alec took a step forward before he felt it, a burning sensation in his throat. His eyes bulged in realization and fear: poisonous gas. He covered his mouth with what was left of his shirt but the damage was already done. Every breath burned his throat more and rewarded him with less and less oxygen. Under the strain, he collapsed to the ground. As his vision began to darken from oxygen deprivation, he could see the hooded man standing over him.

"You should have stayed dead." The man told him with an amused tone. Alec could only manage an angry glare. The man ignored it and walked paced around him, like a predator toying with its food. "You are strong-willed to resist my power, I will grant you that." The man shook his head. "You could have been the chosen servant of Ug-Qualtoth, but you chose resistance."

_Kill him. He killed you. Kill him._

Alec reached for the hammer but the man slammed his foot down on his hand. Alec cried out in pain and the man laughed.

"No more fighting. You have damaged my efforts enough." He kicked the hammer away and knelt next to Alec's head. "I will find other sacrifices. I will make sure they are not as strong-willed as you. In any case.." he produced a long, jagged black dagger from his robe. "..you must die for interfering with the will of Ug-Qualtoth." He raised the dagger in the air above Alec's neck.

_Kill him!_ It was not a whispered command, but a scream of rage in his head. Again, strength poured into his limbs, fueled by the anger. As the man brought the dagger down Alec grabbed the man's arm with his right hand, halting the dagger an inch from his neck. With his left hand, he punched him in the throat.

The shock of the hit caused the man to drop the dagger, which fell harmlessly. He grabbed his throat, gasping for air and he crawled back, away from Alec. For his part, Alec was still struggling to breathe. The burning sensation had passed, but breathing was still difficult but thankfully, not impossible. While still gasping for air, he struggled to his feet.

"_Fool."_ It wasn't a voice in his head now. It was speaking through him and controlling him. "_You are a child tampering with things you cannot hope to comprehend. Ug-Qualtoth has not heard your call. I have."_

The man's mouth practically hit the floor. "Who are you?"

It laughed, amused. "_Did you really think your master was the only eldritch abomination wandering the cosmos? The price for your stupidity is death."_

The hooded man regained his composure and rose to his feet.

"You are but a minor obstacle. Ug-Qualtoth will have his champion. You will not stop me." With that, he bolted as fast as he could with an injured throat. It tried to follow him but quickly collapsed after a few seconds of sprinting, quickly winded from the inadequate oxygen he was getting.

"_Curse this useless sack of meat!" _It hissed through its teeth. Once it regained its breath it glared in the direction the man had fled. "_You cannot run forever. I will have your head soon for this soon enough. But first…" _It glanced around at its surroundings with a devilish grin forming.. "_I am going to bring this whole stinking place down."_

Without wasting a moment, it got to work, finding anything remotely explosive inside the now empty quarry. It took, at most, an hour before it had what it needed. With explosives in hand, it made its way to the entrance. The moon was high in the sky when he walked outside. Once there, it set the explosives and moved a safe distance away behind cover. Then, it pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it at the cave entrance. The boom echoed through the quarry and tons of quarry rock collapsed onto the entrance.

"_Not the whole place, perhaps but it will do."_ It walked out of the quarry pit with a satisfied smile. "_Now, for the scum that bound me to this- Gah!"_ It clutched its head as it was suddenly racked with extreme pain. "_What is-"_

"Get out of my head!" Alec screamed, finally taking control of his body. He fell to his knees, exhausted by the effort.

_Hmm, you're tough. I can see why they used you. But you cannot win this contest forever._

"What are you?"

Alec could hear a soft chuckle in his head. _If I had a hundred years, I couldn't begin to explain it to you in a way your small mind could comprehend. All you need to know is I am now a part of you._

"I don't understand."

_Of course, you don't. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to spend the next century explaining it to you. Now, please, surrender your body and this will be as painless as possible._

"What? No way am I- Ah!" A sharp pain shot through him. "Why!" Alec screamed as the pain intensified. "Leave me alone! Why do you want my body? Just leave!"

_Do you think I want to be stuck in this meat bag of yours? Hah! If I could leave I would. Unfortunately for both of us, I can't._

The pain subsided, somewhat. "Why not?"

_Cause I've been bound to you by that half-wit wizard wannabe. We're both stuck like this now for the rest of your life. Unless you'd like to kill yourself which in that case, by all means, go ahead, but not until I've killed that brat for the trouble he's caused me._

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement then?"

_Ah, the mortal wishes to bargain. _Came the sarcastic reply. _Well, I have some time, what do you suggest?_

"You hate that guy. Well, so do I. He killed me and everyone with me. So, if we're going to get revenge, wouldn't it make more sense to work together, instead of fighting for control every few minutes?"

_Your logic is amusingly simple._ The voice went silent for a moment as if mulling it over. _Well, I suppose there is no other alternative and this may be an opportunity for some fun._

"What kind of fun?" Alec asked warily, not sure he wanted to know.

_Well, I do enjoy killing fools like the ones in the quarry..._

"Great, I'm stuck with a homicidal alter-ego in my head."

_Oh, like anyone is really going to miss them. Anyway, there will be time for that later. Right now, you need to get this body of yours fixed. _

"Don't you mean, our body?" Alec asked, dryly.

_No._

"Alright, I know someone that might be able to help."

_Good. I'm going to do some thinking about how to make this 'arrangement' work._


	10. Walk of Pain

The next few hours were walked in silence. The voice in his head ignored all of Alec's questions so Alec was left to walk the wasteland in silence. The going was slow. He felt tired and sluggish. His body still hurt where he had been injured. Almost as soon as he left the quarry he found a pool of radiated water and soaked himself in it, even drinking some in the hope that the radiation would heal is damaged throat. It had little effect. Even though the burning sensation had stopped, he found himself coughing and hacking every few dozen steps.

It was at the pool he had seen his own reflection, it was not a pleasant sight. His face was scarred and mutilated from the fire to the point he barely recognized himself. Some of his hair was burned away as well, but the damage was not as pronounced. His eyes were the most terrifying part, they had turned completely black, looking more like soulless pits where his eyes should have been. The sight of his face startled him so much that he jumped backward in shock upon first seeing it.

When the sun came up things got even worse. His skin began to burn and his eyes felt like someone had shoved his face inches from a roaring bonfire. Immediately he took shelter in a dilapidated house.

_Is this normal for human bodies?_ It asked, speaking up for the first time since leaving Dunwich.

"No."

_It is probably a side effect of the ritual then. Hmph, it was an amateur and hack job of a ritual. Although I am impressed he managed to get any result at all, even if it was as poor as this._

"What was it supposed to do?"

_It did what it was meant to do. Bind a being such as myself to a being such as yourself. However, they did a crap job of it._

"How so?"

_If it had worked perfectly your consciousness would have been completely destroyed and replaced by me. However, I would be under his complete control._

"So, an unpleasant result either way?"

_Pretty much._

Alec chuckled quietly, then coughed. "I just had a thought."

_That's a surprise._

Alec rolled his eyes. "Why do I need to find someone to fix me up? Why isn't the radiation working?"

_You should be correct. However, I suspect a 'cheap sorcery' of sorts was used on that gas or the damage is too complex._

"Why is radiation healing me? It should kill me."

_A side effect of the ritual. Probably intended, unlike your apparent new disdain for sunlight. You'll probably find yourself much stronger than before as well._

"Sheesh, what was that man trying to do?"

Alec didn't think it was possible to hear someone roll their eyes but he definitely heard his mental hitchhiker do it.

_Do I have to spell it out for you? He wanted a weapon. He probably wanted several but you were the only success. Had the ritual been better performed he would have sent you out to wreak havoc in the name of Ug-Qualtoth._

"Do I even want to know who Ug-Qualtoth is?"

_No._

"Fine." Alec found a rotted coach and laid down, hoping to get some rest. "Do you have a name?"

_Not one you could pronounce._

"So, what should I call you?"

For several minutes the voice was silent. He was quiet for so long Alec thought he was ignoring him, but he eventually spoke up.

_Azrael._

"What kind of name is Azrael?"

_Shut up._

Alec shook his head and tried to relax. The coach wasn't particularly comfortable but after what he went through, he didn't care. After a few minutes passed he could feel himself begin to doze off. He stood up to try and keep himself from falling asleep. With 'Azrael in his head he didn't feel safe letting his guard down. He tried walking around and stretching his muscles to stay awake but the events of the day had worn him out. Even as he stretched he felt his eyelids forcing themselves down. His body was begging for sleep. Eventually, he gave up and laid back down on the couch.

"Well, it's not as if things can get any worse." He told himself as he let himself fall asleep. He was wrong.

With sleep came the nightmares: his mind forcing him to relive his harrowing experience in detail. He was brought to a stone altar by faceless horrors that then forced him upon it. His limbs were frozen, leaving him unable to fight them off. Moments later, a figure shrouded in black mist stepped forward, holding a familiar jagged dagger. Without hesitation, it plunged it into his heart. This time, he felt the blade. It was burned him inside and out. His limbs spasmed uncontrollably. He screamed in agony, but he didn't die. The figure ripped the dagger out and stabbed him again. Then he did it again and again. Alec screamed with each stabbing. The pain worsening with each stab.

Suddenly, the figure stopped and stepped back. At first, Alec felt relief but quickly realized the pain was not subsiding. In fact, it was increasing in intensity. It felt like someone had lit a fire on his chest, but he smelled no smoke. With great effort, he lifted his head enough to look down at his chest. He immediately wished he hadn't. He could see his skin peeling away as black flames ate away at his body, creating a hole in his chest. This time, he couldn't scream, he could only stare in growing disgust and horror.

Once the hole reached the size of a baseball a black, clawed, decrepit hand rose from it. As it began to pull itself out the hole expanded rapidly. Soon, an arm followed, then a head, then a body, each more frightening in appearance than the last. When the creature had completely pulled itself out from Alec's chest it looked down at him, with a maniacal grin, revealing its fanged teeth. Then it laughed. Its laugh was the most frightening sound Alec had ever heard in his life. It was an inhuman sound, so devoid of natural emotion. The sound echoed in Alec's head again and again, louder and louder. Even as the dream began to fade away, the laughter continued to grow in volume with each passing second. When it seemed like the laughter would deafen him, he woke up.

His body was shaking violently and sweat was pouring from his skin. His heartbeat was ringing in his head and beating like he had downed a whole pack of nuka-cola in thirty minutes. It took him several minutes of deep breathes before he was confident enough to sit up.

_Nice of you to finally wake up. The sun has gone down and we need to get moving._

"How long was I asleep?" His voice was as drained as his body.

_Long enough._

Alec shook his head. "Whatever." Too mentally worn out to argue, he stood up and walked out of the building into the cool night air. Thankfully, it was a cloudless night, the stars and moon giving adequate visibility. As he walked he carefully surveyed his surroundings for any sign of danger. He had never cared for traveling at night, as some in his profession did. They preferred the night because there were fewer dangers lurking around. The downside, in his opinion, was that what dangers did inhabit the night were much more likely to catch you by surprise. Believing this, he only traveled or worked at night when he had no alternative, like now. When he did he would move as fast as he could. His new condition, however, forced him to walk painfully slow as to avoid coughing up a storm. This forced pace frustrated Alec. If Azrael was annoyed he wasn't letting on. He had stopped speaking once they left the building. This time Alec didn't bother prodding him with questions.

In the quiet of the night, Alec found himself lost in thought and worry. What was he going to do when he returned to Nordhagen? He couldn't just go back to a normal life, not with Azrael in his head. Could he explain it to Gwen? Would she understand? Would she be disgusted by him? Should he even tell her at all? These questions and more swam through his mind. He knew he needed to come up with answers soon. Even at his slow pace, he would be in Nordhagen within a day or two.

When he had traveled with the Minutemen to Dunwich Borers it took them two days to travel the distance, but they had constantly been stopping to fight with small raider gangs, rogue mirelurks, stray super mutants, and other distractions. On the third day, they scouted and planned the attack. On the fourth, they carried it out and everything went wrong. The initial attack had been successful. They killed several raiders in the exterior portion of the quarry and pushed the others back inside. Once they entered, they were overwhelmed within seconds, several men not even getting a chance to return fire before being cut to pieces.

Alec felt a wave of grief when he thought about the people who had been killed. He hadn't known them long or particularly well, but they had been decent people. Those that had been killed in the fighting were lucky. The survivors were tortured, then subjected to the 'ritual' that ended with them being stabbed in the chest. All, in the name of this Ug-Qualtoth. Alec had no idea who or what Ug-Qualtoth was but if his followers were any indication, he was undoubtedly an unwholesome fellow.

_Head out of the clouds, something's coming._

Alec's gaze instantly darted from side to side, looking for any sign of movement. "What is it?"

_Something big._

Alec dove into the nearby ruins of a house. It wasn't great cover since much of the house had fallen or rotted away, but it was the only thing available. Nervously, he held his breath and listened. He didn't have to wait long before he heard the sound of heavy footsteps getting louder and louder. The sound of heavy breathing and grunting followed after.

'Please, don't be a deathclaw.' Alec prayed internally. From what he was hearing, it was no doubt an animal of some kind, and a big one. 'If it's a deathclaw I'm a dead man... again.'

_What is a deathclaw?_

'Big mean ugly lizard with claws as long as swords and teeth that can tear apart a man in seconds.'

_Sounds like fun._ Alec detected no hint of sarcasm.

'Your definition of 'fun' is very disturbing.'

_Coward._

Alec prepared to make a witty comeback but as he was forming it in his mind he heard the creature begin to sniff the air.

'I think it smells us.' Alec began to sweat nervously. 'There's no way I can fight or run in this condition.'

_I can._

'What?'

_I can. Give me control._

Before Alec could answer the boards he was leaning against shattered and something clamped onto his shoulder.

"Aaaah!" Alec screamed as he felt his shoulder being torn up as the creature shook him violently. After a few shakes, the creature flung him to the side. Alec rolled for several feet before coming to halt in the middle of the road. He tried to get up but his left shoulder and arm weren't working, only sending bolts of pain through his body when he moved them. Using his right arm, he managed to prop himself up and look at his attacker, who was roaring at him and stomping its feet.

_That doesn't look like a big lizard._

"Nope, that's a yao-guai."

_Looks like a big ugly bear._

Alec groaned and struggled to his feet. The yao-guai, in turn, rose onto its hind feet and roared again.

"Ah, cr-"

The yao guai lunged, throwing Alec onto his back. He raised his arm to shield his face. The yao guai tore into his arm with its teeth, eliciting another scream from Alec. His vision went, a now familiar, red.

"_Get off!" _Azrael slammed his head into the yao guai's snout and kicked its gut at the same time. The sudden attack startled the creature, which staggered back. With the yao guai no longer on top of him, he stood to his feet. While the pain would have stopped Alec, pain did not stop Azrael. He fed off the pain. Once recovered, the yao guai roared in anger. Azrael roared back. The yao guai accepted the challenge and lunged forward, intent on tearing him limb from limb. Azrael avoided being mauled by claws by inches. In the same moment he dodged the attack he brought his left fist down as hard as he could on the yao guai's snot. The inhuman strength behind the blow sent the strike sent the the creature reeling back in pain.

Azrael knew he couldn't keep this up with only his bare hands. It would only take one mistake for him to be eaten alive. With the few seconds of reprieve his hit bought him, Azrael looked around for anything to even the odds. On the ground, a few feet away, was an old tire iron. It wasn't much, but at this point, he would take anything. He dove for the tire iron just as his assailant was recovering from its shock. As he rolled to recover from his dive, picking up the tire iron as he did, a bolt of extreme pain shot through his shoulder. The pain feeding his unnatural strength, Azrael unleashed and animalistic scream as he rose to his feet and turned to his attacker.

Instead of continuing its attack, the yao guai hesitated. Azrael, did not. With mad fury, he rushed the animal, tire iron swinging. On the first hit, he was rewarded with the sound of bone breaking. On the second, the sound was louder. The yao guai slumped to the ground but tried to stand back up. Then came a third hit, then a fourth, then one after another. Even after the creature had stopped moving he continued to swing the tire iron again and again.

'Enough! It's dead!' Alec cried within the prison of his own head. Azrael continued to swing, ignoring his plea. 'Enough!" Alec tried with all he had to regain control of his body. Although he didn't retake full control, his effort was enough to halt Azrael's mad assault and acknowledge him.

"_What?"_ His voice was filled with rage.

'Where about to bleed to death and your beating a corpse into mush!'

Azrael looked down at their body. The rags that were clothes were coated red. At his feet was a growing pool of blood, gushing from the fresh wounds they received.

"_Fine." _He growled. He took off what was left of the shirt and tore it into makeshift bandages. It wasn't enough, but it was a start. In the ruins of the house, they found more cloth that they fashioned into bandages. By the time he had finished, most of their body was covered in bandages.

The blood loss, however, had taken its toll. When he tried to get up to continue their journey they collapsed back onto the ground after only rising a few inches.

"_Curse this carcass I'm forced to live in! How do you humans survive in such frail bodies?"_

'Usually by not boxing with giant mutant bears.' Alec responded dryly.

"_Your sense of humor leaves much to be desired."_

'As does your personality.'

Azrael grumbled but did not reply. Instead, he laid back against the wall and closed his eyes. As much as he hated sitting still, he would have to allow this body to recover naturally. With the adrenaline wearing off, he found himself very tired and quickly dozed off.

Although they went unaccosted by any human's or creatures, the rest of the journey grew in difficulty. The new wounds were not healing well, despite radiation treatment. Azrael theorized that the body had simply taken too much abuse in too short a time for the radiation to be effective. With radiation no longer effective, for the time being, they were forced to make their way toward Nordhagen with a body that was barely holding itself together. Based on his crude medical knowledge, Alec guessed that if he didn't get home soon, an infection would likely kill him.

The trip felt like it took an eternity, with much of it made in silence. Azrael had withdrawn to the inner parts of the mind and wasn't speaking. Alec didn't try to get him to speak, instead, he focused on keeping himself moving, one step at a time. Each step was painful, but he pushed himself through it, resisting the ever growing urge to lay down and give up. By the time he was on the home stretch, he was barely conscious. He remembered almost nothing of the last few hours of the trip. One moment, he was dragging his feet along the ground, the next he was having terrible nightmares.

Again and again, he relieved the horror in the quarry. The death, the pain, the confusion, he felt it all in his delirious mind. Through it was the constant sound of chanting. He couldn't understand the words, but he noticed Ug-qualtoth was repeated many times. Sometimes, he found himself chanting along, with no comprehension of what he was saying.

Eventually, the terrors faded and he found himself slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in a building. A complete one, not a ruin. He was also in a bed with medical supplies lying all around. It took a few moments but he realized he was in the Nordhagen town hall. He looked down at himself. His wounds were neatly bandaged and the pain wasn't as intense. He tried to get out of the bed and stand upright but his legs couldn't hold him up and he collapsed to his knees. He heard someone rush over to him and say something. He didn't catch the words but he recognized the voice.

"Gwen?"

* * *

His recovery was a slow process. For much of it, he was forced to remain in bed or confined to his room, much of it in solitude, though Gwen stayed with him as much as she could. The solitary atmosphere left him a great deal of time to think and reflect on the past few days and look ahead to the future. The more he thought, the more he felt anger and a great sense of injustice. No one deserved to go through what he and those Minutemen had. Something needed to be done. Of course, the primary perpetrator had to be hunted down, but what would he do after that? Killing one man wouldn't end all the dangers his kind perpetuated throughout the Commonwealth. No, something more needed to be done, and once he recovered fully, he would be in a unique position to do something.

Whether he liked it or not, Azrael was stuck in his head for the perceivable future, but while he was there, Alec had abilities that could give a distinct advantage in a fight. Advantages, he planned to press in full. He could no longer just be Alec, he needed to become something more. Something fulled by anger, hate, and desire for blood, which he now had in full.


	11. What's Left Behind

After years of effort, years of suffering, the culmination of his efforts was now in front of him, trapped on the top floor of a decaying apartment building. The architect of Alec's suffering stood before him, only a few feet away with nowhere to run. While Alec's face was the picture of wrath, on the inside he felt of a pang of uncertainty and fear. He was so close to his goal yet he feared it would be plucked away from him any second.

Beside him, shotgun in hand was Wade: his teacher and friend. When he had left the Commonwealth on his journey he bumped into him by chance. After hearing his story and his mission, Wade joined him on his hunt. As they traveled and fought together they became good friends. Wade, a far more experienced fighter, had taught him everything he could as they hunted their prey.

That prey was now before them, clad in scavenged power armor. Mounted on his right arm was a tesla rifle, able to shoot dangerous volts of electricity at its target. Strapped to his waist was an all too familiar black, jagged dagger. Even though the man was wearing power armor, Alec could feel his hate-filled glare.

"I don't know how you've managed to track me this far west and I don't care. You've caused more damage to my plans than you can even comprehend. That ends now! I'm going to kill you, your friend, and that little parasite in your skull and when I'm through I'll-"

'Clang.'

Alec, tired of his monologing, had lunged forward. All of his pent up hate bursting free. Before the man could react Alec hit him square in the chest with a super sledge. The man staggered back from pain and shock. Alec swung again, hitting him in the shoulder, then the leg, then the head. He continued to swing screaming like mad the whole time. The man had fallen to his knee under the withering blows. With a satisfied grin on his face, Alec raised the super sledge to deliver a crushing blow to the man's head.

As the hammer came down the man caught the hammer mid-swing with his left hand. Before Alec could wrench it free he was blasted backward by an electric blast from the man's tesla rifle.

"Piece of junk." He grumbled as he tossed the hammer to the side. Once he rose to his feet he aimed his rifle at Alec's twitching body. "Time to put the mad dog-"

A shotgun blast from Wade cut him short as it bounced off his power armor. Instinctively he raised his arm to shield his face from the next shots. Wade knew his pump-action shotgun was useless against power armor, but he needed to buy time. Unfortunately, the shotgun soon clicked indicating he had fired his last slug. The man laughed and raised his tesla rifle again, this time aiming at Wade. Before he could fire, a low hum sounded from his armor and his arm fell to his side.

"Well, that was anti-climactic," Wade noted, with a smile.

"What? What happened?" He sputtered.

"Missing something?" A female voice asked. The air shimmered just behind him. Within a few seconds, A figure became visible, clade in black, tight-fitting stealth armor from the pre-war years. In the figure's hand was a fusion core.

"No!" The man screamed and tried to move toward the woman. However, without power, the suit barely budged an inch. Wade, grinned from ear to ear.

"Liu, you never fail to impress."

"Of course. I would hate to disappoint you two."

"What took you so long?" Alec asked as he struggled to his feet.

Liu shook her head and removed the face mask of the armor, revealing a smiling Chinese woman underneath.

"Oh, I thought I'd let you two have a little fun before I saved the day."

Wade chuckled as he walked over and kissed her. "I humbly thank you, my dear."

Alec ignored the pair and focused his attention on their now helpless prey. For a moment, he glared at him in silence.

"Don't-" Before the man could begin his pleading Alec hit him hard in the face with his super sledge. With no power in the hydraulics of the suit, the man fell backward with a loud thump. The hit was so hard that his helmet was thrown off the side of the building, revealing the face of the man underneath.

"Well, that's disappointing," Wade noted. "I expected a more diabolical looking face underneath that, not a pale, gaunt-looking thing."

"What, did you expect him to have horns and a pitchfork?" Liu asked.

"Horns, maybe. The pitchfork would be a bit much."

Alec continued to ignore them as he seized the dagger from the man's waist. He inspected the dagger the glanced back down at his defeated foe.

"If you're going to kill me, get it over with." He spat. The man's fear had faded and was replaced with anger and contempt.

"_No."_

"No?" Wade, Liu, and the man asked in unison, all looking very confused.

Alec didn't reply. With effort, he flipped the man over onto his stomach and twisted the valve that opened the back of the suit. After forcing the unpowered suit open, he ripped the man out and slammed him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

"_I have a different plan."_ The vicious and malevolent manner in which he spoke made Wade and Liu glance at each other, worried. 'Other Alec' was now in control. They had conversed with the 'Other Alec' a few times in their travels and although he had never done anything to them, their interactions always left the two of them feeling very uncomfortable and disturbed. 'Other Alec' called himself Azrael, the name of an angel of destruction in Hebrew literature.

Before Wade or Liu could decide whether they should intervene Alec knelt down and plunged the dagger into the man's chest. Wade and Liu both jumped at the sudden killing. As Wade was just about to ask what was going on Alec leaned over the man's shocked face and removed his mask.

What looked like black smoke poured from his face and into the man's mouth and eyes. The man convulsed violently and looked like he was trying to scream, but no sound was coming out of his mouth. Alec, on the other hand, was loudly screaming in pain, but frozen in place. It was a terrifying sight and neither Wade or Liu could stomach to watch it for more than a few seconds.

Thankfully, it didn't last more than a minute. Once the black smoke stopped pouring from Alec's face he removed the dagger and tried to stand, only to collapse in a heap next to his victim.

Wade rushed to Alec's side and knelt down.

" Hey, man, are you ok?" The only sound Alec made was ragged breathing. Carefully, Wade removed his friend's mask. Alec's eyes were firmly shut. "He passed out?" Instinctively, Wade checked his pulse. "He's alive, but his pulse is erratic."  
Liu placed a hand on his forehead. "He's burning up like he has a fever. What should we do?"

Wade shrugged. He had worked as a doctor and a combat medic at different times in his life but none of that taught him what to do in this very specific scenario.

"Alec! Alec! Wake up! Come one, you didn't come all this way just to keel over now, did you?" Although Wade knew that pleading with an unconscious man wasn't going to get him anywhere, he felt like he had to do something. Surprisingly, Alec's eyes fluttered opened, although they seemed unfocused.

"Water." He muttered to no one in particular. Wade grabbed his canteen and let Alec slowly drink from it.

"Care to tell us what happened there, Alec?" Wade asked as soon as Alec finished drinking and sat up.

"That is if it is Alec we're talking to right now." Liu cautiously placed a hand on her sword. Alec replied, but his voice sounded as if he had just woken up.

"It's me. Azrael is gone."

"Gone?" Wade looked up at Liu, who only shrugged. "Where did he go?"

Alec looked down at the body of the man had just stabbed. Slowly and deliberately, he pulled the man's shirt up to reveal a chest with a freshly healed chest wound.

As if on cue, the man gasped loudly and his eyes sprang open. Both Wade and Liu lept back in shock and scrambled for their weapons.

Grimacing in pain, the man unsteadily rose to his feet. Once he had balanced himself he looked around and noticed the weapons being pointed at him.

"Oh, put your weapons away, it's me, Azrael."

Wade continued to point his pistol at the man. "What just happened? How are you in that body now?"

"Since the dagger that started all this was finally in my grasp, I decided to change my housing situation into something more preferable."

"So, you took over that man's body, what's to keep him from taking it back?" Liu had her own pistol trained on the man's chest and wasn't lowering it either.

"He can't."

"But Alec was able to, why couldn't he?"

Azrael briefly glanced at Alec, who was now back on his feet. "Alec was atypical. A human with a strong will. Combine that with someone who doesn't fully understand what he's doing performing the ritual and you get the situation we were in. This man's mind was strong, but I knew what I was doing." A deep frown set on his face. "I've had a long time to think about it as well."

Slowly, Wade and Liu lowered their guns. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Azrael stared blankly at them for several seconds. "I… I don't know, I didn't think I'd get this far." After another brief pause, Wade and Liu burst out laughing. "Shut up! I fail to see what is so funny."

Wade waved him aside and looked back at where Alec was, except, he was no longer there. Confused, Wade looked around the apartment complex while Liu inspected the room for any valuables and Azrael did… whatever Azrael did. His search eventually led him to a living room on the eastern side of the building. Alec was there, staring out the window, with his mask back on. Wade joined him at the window. The sun was setting over the horizon, bathing the landscape in a beautiful light. Alec did not visibly acknowledge Wade's presence so, after a few minutes, Wade spoke up.

"You're free of Azrael and your killer is dead."

"Yes."

"So, what are your plans now? You never really talked about what you were going to do after all this was over."

Alec turned to face Wade. He took a deep breath and looked back out the window toward the setting sun.

"I am going home."

* * *

They had been staring at the map for days, but none of them could come up with a good plan. Gwen massaged her forehead. It was no use, none of them had the tactical mind that Alec did. Sarge had some experience but he had no idea what to do either. The odds were to heavily stacked against them.

Gwen decided to take a break from staring at a piece of paper to get a drink of water. Sarge didn't bother to look up from the table map to watch her go, he was too engrossed in planning. Opposite of him was Red, who briefly glanced up at her before returning her gaze to the map. Jack had long since excused himself from the meetings after the first one. By his own admission, he knew nothing of strategy so his presence wasn't missed. Monty, on the other hand, hadn't bothered to show up for any of the meetings. Ever since Alec's last transmission she had locked herself in her house and hadn't come out. Honestly, Gwen had considered doing the same, but she was the Mayor, she had to put on a brave face and act like everything was fine even if she felt dead on the inside.

After getting a bottle of water from the fridge she sat down on a nearby chair and took several gulps from the bottle. When she finished she took a moment to reflect. It had taken several hours for her to compose herself enough that she felt able to appear in public. The whole situation didn't feel real to her. Alec always seemed invincible, as if nothing could ever hurt him. However, she knew now that it wasn't true.

She had time to reminisce about her time with Alec. Although there were plenty of wonderful memories she had with him they were overshadowed by what he became after Dunwich. Slowly, as he recovered, he became distant and quiet. He spoke little if he could help it and he always looked like his mind was somewhere else. Even though he had begun to build up a stony exterior Gwen had noticed anger in his eyes. It was anger she had never seen in him before and honestly, it had scared her.  
After he had recovered and Monty had built his suit, he began to leave for several days at a time. Only showing up for a day or two before leaving again. Although he didn't talk much about what he was doing stories and rumors began to filter back to Nordhagen. After several years of this, he came back at told her he was going to be leaving for a long time. He didn't know how long exactly, but it would be several months at least. She begged him not to leave and tried to coax more information out of him but he wouldn't budge. He stayed in Nordhagen for a week then left after saying goodbye to her.

When he had left she had been afraid she had lost him forever. She tried to move on with her life but, while she had been mostly successful, Alec was always on her mind. When he suddenly returned out of the blue, she couldn't have been happier. As he spent more time in Nordhagen she felt like he was beginning to open up a little and start to become the man he used to be, if even a little. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, he was gone. This time, for good.

When she heard his final words, something inside her broke, she felt dead and drained emotionally, only just able to function. She had a feeling it wasn't going to get better for a long time, if ever.

She was sturred from her thoughts by a hesitant tap on her shoulder and a quiet "Ma'am?" She looked over her shoulder and saw Carl standing behind her.

"Yes?"

"Monty wants to see you at her place."

"Ok, I'll be right over." She made her way to Monty's home at a brisk walk. She didn't want to be seen by anyone or speak to anyone. They meant well but everyone asked the same questions. 'Are you alright?' 'How are you feeling?' 'Are you going to be ok?' It frustrated her very quickly. Thankfully, no one was out and about at the moment so she made it without incident. She knocked on the door.

"Monty? It's-" Gwen jumped back as the door suddenly swung open. She barely suppressed a gasp when she saw Monty. Dark bags were under her eyes and she moved like someone who hadn't slept well for days. Her clothes were coated in a layer of oil and sweat. All over her skin was the grime of the workshop, disturbed only by channels that sweat had poured down. "What happened to you?" Gwen almost shouted. Monty ignored the question and motioned for her to enter. Seriously worried, she followed.

Wordlessly, Monty lead Gwen into her primary workshop and flicked on the lights. Gwen's jaw dropped and she froze in place. Standing in the center of the shop was a mannequin wearing a suit of pristine-looking, jet-black armor.

"Go on," Monty said. "Take a closer look." As if in a trance, Gwen obeyed and inspected the armor closer.

At first glance, it looked like a bulkier version of Alec's own armor. As she moved closer, she saw that was far from the case. This armor did not have the cobbled-together nature Alec's own armor did. This armor was well and carefully made with no exposed or ugly parts. It was, in her eyes, a work of art.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen armor like this before."

"That's because it is unique. Well, unique as far as the Commonwealth goes, anyway. It's my own creation. _The Slayer Armor 2.0_, as I call it."

Gwen looked back at Monty who, while obviously proud of her work, looked very depressed.

"Originally," Monty continued, "I meant to make it for Alec, to replace his old armor. I stopped working on it a little after he left a year ago. Given the circumstances, however, I decided to finish it in his honor and…" She paused briefly and sighed "Give it to you."

"Me?" Gwen's eyes widened in shock. "No, I couldn't… I mean I…"

Monty waved away her objections. "You don't get a choice." Her face turned deadly serious. "Alec's already dead because of my bomb. The least I can do is keep you safe." She walked up to the suit of armor and gave it a firm pat. "On the back, there's a spot for a fusion core, like in power armor. This powers the extra stuff in the suit. I built in some minor hydraulics to compensate for the extra armor I put in so you shouldn't feel slowed down too much."

"Monty…"

"The extra armor should protect you from practically all small arms fire. The helmet is multi-purpose. It has a flashlight on the side, a radio on the inside, and the ability to detect heat signatures."

"Monty…"

"The gloves have an electric stun feature you can turn on and off. So you can punch someone and shoot electricity through their body at the same time. The boots-"

"Monty."

Monty turned to Gwen, who had finally caught her attention by grabbing her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done."

Tears began to well up in Monty's eyes. She shook her head and pushed Gwen's arm aside as she turned away.

"No. I could have made the bomb better. I could have made the signal stronger. I could have finished the armor. I could have done anything and…"

"You did the best you could." Gwen planted herself directly in front of Monty, forcing her to look at her. "Alec would never blame you for what happened. He knew the risk." She placed a hand on both of Monty's shoulders. "He would be proud of you."

The tears flowed freely from Monty's eyes and she gripped Gwen in a tight hug, burying her head in her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried. "Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive."

After a few minutes of crying, Monty regained her composure and broke off the hug.

"Sorry about that." She muttered, embarrassed, "But, thanks."

"It's not a problem." Gwen gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder.

"Anyway, my point still stands. When the gunners come to kill us all, or whatever, you are wearing that armor."

"Ok, ok, I'll wear it." Gwen held up her hands in mock defeat.

"Good. You should probably test it out now, so I can make adjustments if need be."


	12. The Last Battle

"What's the sit-rep, captain?" The commander asked.

"Everything is ready, commander. The conscripts are recruited, the explosives are ready, and the men are itching for a fight. All we need is for you to give the word."

The commander nodded in approval before turning around to inspect the map on the wall. "What has Nordhagen been up to these past few days? Surely there not just sitting around?"

"Nordhagen appears to have deployed 'snipers' to harass us."

The commander caught the tone in the man's voice glanced at him over his shoulder. "You don't seem impressed."

He shrugged. "One of our men was hit in the shoulder, another was hit directly in his body armor and only has bruises. A few more have been injured but the snipers have only managed to kill one man."

"How many snipers are we dealing with?"

"At least two, but they're more nuisances than a real problem. I've order counter-sniper teams to deal with them so we shouldn't have any more problems."

"Good. Do our scouts have anything else to report from Nordhagen?"

"The scouts that have returned say it's under complete lockdown."

"Unsurprising, they know we're coming." The commander's brow furrowed. "'The scouts that have returned?' what happened to the others? They should've reported back by now?"

"No word on them."

"I think I know what happened."

Both men turned around to see Lt. Peterson in the doorway, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Annoyed at the interruption, the commander folded his arms over his chest and glared at the officer. "Well? What do you think happened to them?"

After taking a deep breath, the Lt. produced a large sack from behind him and laid it in front of the captain. Curious, the captain peered into the sack. He immediately gagged in disgust and stepped back. When the commander shot him a questioning look he could only shake his head as he tried to hold in his lunch. Although the commander couldn't see into the sack, he could smell the sickening scent of decaying flesh.

"It's the heads of the missing scouts, isn't it?" The commander asked. The Lt. nodded. "How did you get them?"

"They were left just outside headquarters in this sack. None of the guards reported noticing anything until this morning."

"Was there anything else?"

"No, sir, just the sack."

"You are dismissed."

The Lt. breathed an audible sigh of relief and ducked out of the room, dragging the sack of heads with him.

"What do you make of that, captain?"

The captain shook his head. "Doesn't make any sense. As far as we know, no one in Nordhagen could do this. I mean, they might get lucky once, but all of those scouts were skilled in their jobs. There's no way a civvie could ax four of our scouts."

"Then we're not dealing with a random civvie, but a trained killer. A killer that wants us to know he's killing our men."

"So, a fear tactic then?"

"Yes. Word will spread of the dead scouts and it will unnerve the men if we don't do anything about it."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Begin the march to Nordhagen. The campaign will take their minds off of it. Give the order."

"Yes, sir." The captain quickly saluted and marched out the door. The commander began to gather his things. He would be there in person to watch the fall of Nordhagen. They were so close to their goal that he would leave nothing to chance. He was going to command the attack himself.

* * *

"They'll be here in a few days at most." The heavy atmosphere was made worse by Sarge's proclamation. Those in attendance quietly groaned to themselves. Gwen, standing across from Sarge, spoke up.

"Have we done everything we can to prepare?"

"The walls have been repaired and reinforced with as much scrap as we can gather. The non-combatants are prepared to be evacuated to Fort Strong so they're out of the way. We've stockpiled all the food and water we can. Weapons and armor have been distributed to everyone who's fighting. The two approached to the town have been covered with all the mines we've managed to make since the last attack. I can't think of anything else we can do."

"Have the minutemen sent anyone?"

Sarge shook his head. "No, I expect we're on our own."

"Our situation is hopeless." Red declared as she threw up her hands. "We just don't have the numbers."

"On the plus side," Monty interjected, "We have enough weapons, armor, and armor for everyone."

Red rolled her eyes. "So we'll die well-armed with extra bullets."

Monty was about to snap at her when Jack interrupted. "I hate to bring more bad news to the table, but things may get worse."

Everyone looked at him with expressions of disbelief. "How," Red asked. "Could things possibly get worse?"

"A radiation storm is on its way."

Everyone's jaw dropped. "Now?" Gwen asked, stunned. "Of all the times a radiation storm could brew, now? How do you know."

"I just looked west and their's a nasty green glow coming from the Glowing Sea. Looks like a radiation storm is brewing."

Gwen wiped her forehead with her sleeve and sighed. "I guess we better set aside some extra rad-x and rad-away."

"You think the storm will slow down the gunners?" Red asked Sarge, hopeful for a silver lining. He only shrugged.

"I don't know, depends on how bad they want Nordhagen, I guess."

Red had expected an answer like that. None of them knew what to expect. None of them were Alec. He would know what to do. Red wandered over to their map and studied it thoroughly, as she had for the past several days.

'What would Alec do?' She thought to herself. Alec didn't have a chance to teach her strategy before he died so she didn't know what he would do. 'What do we have that could help?'

"How many explosives do we have?" She asked Monty, off-handedly.

"Well, we've used up all our mines, but we have plenty of grenades that we looted off of the gunners. We've also got a good bit of material for building explosives as well. Seems like their demolitionists carry a lot of bomb-making material with them."

"Do we have any remote detonators?"

"No, those are harder to come by and I used my only one on the bomb Alec…" She trailed off.

"So we have explosives, just no easy way to use them?" Red rubbed her chin, an idea beginning to take shape.

"Essentially." Monty noticed the thoughtful expression Red had looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"Could you take the interior mechanism out of a grenade and use it on something else?"

"Yes, that wouldn't be too hard."

A grin grew on Red's face as the final pieces fell into place. Her next question made Monty break out into a huge smile. "Have you ever built a catapult before?"

* * *

Private Leroy yawned as he walked his tedious patrol. It was a boring job, but someone had to do it. Especially with them being so close to Nordhagen now. Once their forces had gotten within a short walk from Nordhagen they split into three groups and established camps. Each 'camp' was a hundred feet or so apart, leaving a large stretch of 'empty' ruins. Leroy's job, along with other patrolman was to walk these hundred feet and make sure no one entered or left Nordhagen.

Halfway between two of the camps, his radio keyed on. "Private Leroy, do you have anything to report?"

He rolled his eyes. The Lt. in charge had called in at three times during his patrol asking for updates. He was doing the same to the other patrols as well.

"Nothing to report, all quiet."

The radio went silent, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more. For some, the quiet of the night was unnerving. For him, it was just the way he liked it. Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy it long.

"Leroy, can you check in on Private Konrad? He's not answering his radio."

Leroy groaned. 'He's probably just going to the bathroom.'

"Can do, sir."

After running the scheduled patrols in his head he began to make his way to Konrad's route. On the way, he periodically tried to call Karl on the radio, to no avail. Still, he wasn't worried. Things like this happened all the time.

As Leroy walked toward an old gas station that was on Konrad's route the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and sick feeling hit him in the gut. He had been in the gunners for several years and had learned a long time ago to trust his instincts so, he froze, listening.

Nothing. The Commonwealth was as quiet as ever. Not satisfied, he spoke into his radio. "Konrad? Can you hear me?" There was no reply, but he could hear his voice echo in the direction of the gas station. "Konrad?" There was no mistaking it. He could hear his voice ahead of him. Properly spooked and alert, he slowly crept his toward the gas station. It was only a few yards away but in his caution, it took him several minutes to reach it. Filled with foreboding, he peered into the station. Empty. He sighed in relief. His nerves were probably just getting to him.

As he turned to leave, something caught his eye. In the dark, he couldn't quite make it out. Curious, he turned on his flashlight. What he saw made him jump back and drop his flashlight. Laying in the far back of the gas station was Konrad's dead eyes staring back at him. Dead bodies didn't scare Leroy much, he had seen plenty of those, but Konrad's body looked like it had been thrown off a bridge. The limbs bent at odd angles and the face was bruised almost beyond recognition. The worst part though was the neck had been sliced with a knife. The cut was so deep however, the body had been almost decapitated.

"Uhh, Lt? I found Konrad. What's left of him, anyway."

"What happened? Where are you?"

"I'm at the Red Rocket tr…"

His neck hairs stood up again and an overwhelming sense of dread washed over him. His brain told him to turn around but, at the same time, something in him didn't want to. The indecision left him frozen for several seconds.

"Leroy? Leroy! Report!" The voice on the radio shook him from his stupor enough to make him turn around. What he saw drained all the blood from his face. Standing barely ten feet from away was the shadowy figure of a man glaring at him. The armor he wore was mangled and torn, barely hanging on to the man's body. One arm hung limply at his side while was poised to attack, holding a sword. What little he could make out of the man's face looked as torn up as the man's armor. The most unsettling part was the steady, labored breathing he could hear, coming from the man. Both men stood perfectly still for what felt like an eternity as they stared down the other. The shadowy man made the first move, taking a deliberate step forward.

Leroy's last nerve broke immediately. Throwing his gun, and any sense of bravado aside, he turned and bolted. He didn't look back once, afraid of what he might see. When the Lt. tried to call him on the radio he tossed it aside and kept running. Even when his lungs felt like they were about to burst he kept running. He tore off his armor and equipment to lighten his load. He kept running until the morning sun peaked over the horizon and even then he kept going until he reached a town far from Nordhagen and far from his fellow gunners.

* * *

"That's the second man that's deserted since we marched on Nordhagen." The captain reported in between bites. Across the table, the commander listened in silence as he ate. Most of the officers under his command were there as well, eating and listening in the makeshift officer's mess hall they had made out of one of the nearby buildings.

"Private Leroy, correct?" The commander asked.

"Yes, not a great loss, he was a mediocre soldier, to say the least."

The commander shook his head. "One desertion is bad enough on morale. Two is the brink of a mass mutiny."

"Most of our veteran soldiers don't seem to be too bothered." Lt. Peterson chimed in. "It's the newer recruits that are the problem."

The captain glared at him for speaking out of turn. Embarrassed, the Lt. returned to eating his food in silence. Satisfied, the captain continued his report.

"We also found the body of Private Konrad. It was so badly mutilated that we had to check the dog tags to make sure it was him."

"So the mystery killer is stepping up his game." The commander scratched his chin. "He's becoming quite the annoyance."

"He's more than an annoyance, sir. Rumors are spreading among the troops. They think the Reaper is back from the dead."

The commander rolled his eyes. "Again with the Reaper? Didn't he supposedly die in that explosion that killed a bunch of the men?"

"Well, we never did find a body so-"

"Enough!" The sound of the commander's fisting slamming against the table silenced the room and froze everyone in fear. "This 'Reaper' is a ghost story. He's not real."

The captain stood up, surprising everyone at the table and coldly stared back at the commander. "It doesn't matter if he's real or not. What matters is something is killing our men and they think it's him. What do you plan on doing about it… sir." The disrespect in his tone was so obvious, that the other officers stared in wide-eyed horror.

The commander stood up and glared at the captain. For his part, the captain remained still, waiting for a reply.

"We attack tomorrow morning. After we secure Nordhagen, we can take care of this 'Reaper.'"

The captain was unsatisfied. "In the middle of a radiation storm, sir?" They had all seen the ominous green light from the Glowing Sea and knew what that meant. Their best guesses were that it would arrive by morning. Attacking in the middle of that storm would be a dangerous gamble. Whether they took Nordhagen or not they would be left with a large number of sick men, many of whom would be injured. It could be a disaster of the highest degree.

"Yes." The staredown continued for several more seconds. "Anything else captain?"

"No, sir." The captain turned and walked out of the building. As soon as he left the entire room let out a sigh of relief. The captain sat back down but didn't eat. He didn't have an appetite anymore.

* * *

Gwen wandered Nordhagen in the armor Monty had given her and tried her best to distract herself from the hell that surrounded her. Jack's prediction had been right. The sky was bathed in the sickly green glow of a radiation storm. Lightning struck around them, further enveloping the landscape in its putrid light.

Under normal circumstances, a radiation storm was unpleasant enough, but with the knowledge, that who knows how many gunners were nearby made it even more unbearable. Gwen didn't personally have to worry about radiation sickness today. Monty had informed her that her armor had been lead shielded. The rest of the Nordhagen didn't have that luxury. Normally, everyone would be indoors during such a storm, but today, most were manning the walls. They would violently sick later, but they had little choice. The snipers they had sent out days ago had returned hours earlier and informed them that the gunners were close, and preparing to attack.

Gwen tried to shake the feeling of impending doom as she wandered between buildings but it stubbornly stuck to her. "I wish you were here, Alec." She spoke quietly to herself. His confidence always managed to make her feel better. With him gone and the gunners coming, it felt like the end of the world.

Gwen was stirred from her misery by the sound of speeding footsteps coming toward her. She looked to her left and saw Carl heading her direction with a terrified look on his face.

"What is it?" She looked at him, expectantly.

"They're here. A few of them want to talk."

"You mean demand we surrender?"

Carl nodded. Gwen took a deep breath and followed him to the front gate. 'Here we go.' Last time this had happened, Alec had gone in her place. With no Alec, she had to go and speak with the gunners. At the front gate, Sarge was waiting for her, armed for battle.

"You intend to speak with them?" Sarge asked, to which Gwen nodded. "It's probably a trick."

"I know, but as long as we have them talking, they aren't attacking."

Sarge shrugged and ordered the gates opened. Once opened, the two of them marched out of Nordhagen toward the center of the bridge that connected Nordhagen from the mainland. As the gates opened, she saw four gunners standing at the center of the bridge, all of them armed. Gwen glanced back at the walls of Nordhagen. On the guard posts, men trained rifles in the direction of the four gunners. Knowing people had her back subdued her fears a little.

She turned back toward the gunners and noticed something strange. All of them were staring at her with obvious fear in their eyes. Three of them had visibly taken several steps back and were quietly whispering to each other while making vague gestures in her direction. The fourth man, while appearing shaken, stood his ground and waited for them to reach him. Gwen and Sarge halted a few feet from the man and silently stared him down. After several minutes of awkward silence, the man composed himself enough to speak.

"Our commander offers you a deal: you can leave now and we'll let you live, or you can stay and die."

At these words, Sarge spat angrily and shouted at the men. "I'd sooner trust a Deathclaw than take you at your word. You think we're so stupid that we'd fall for such an obvious trick? Didn't you learn anything from the last time? Just try and take Nordhagen! You'll drown in blood before you set foot in our homes!"

As Sarge continued to hurl abuses at the gunners Gwen watched them in silence. The three men standing behind the spokesman looked pale and Gwen could make out sweat beading down their foreheads. It didn't take Gwen long to figure out why. Covered in the armor Monty had made for her, the gunners must have mistaken her for Alec. She smiled to herself at this realization. Sarge's tirade finally ended and the spokesman turned his gaze from him to Gwen.

"Even you must realize this is pointless. If you fight everyone will die. Do the smart thing. Surrender, and everyone gets to go free." Knowing that as soon as she opened her mouth the accidental bluff would be over, she kept silent and glared at him. He visibly gulped but didn't turn away, matching her gaze. "That's unfortunate. Goodbye." As he finished speaking he stepped to the side. Nothing. Dead silence. Sweat poured down his face and began to shake. He glanced back toward the mainland and Gwen followed his gaze. Just on the edge of their visibility, she saw something being flung from a building.

At the sight, the gunner's head whipped back and stared and Gwen, then back at the building, then back at her, visibly confused and afraid. The nerve of the other three gunners broke and they dashed for the mainland. After a moment's hesitation, the fourth joined them.

"We'd better go. Now." Sarge grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward Nordhagen's gate. Within a few seconds, they were safely behind the walls. "I should have known." Sarge loudly grumbled. "I should have seen that trick coming. Gah, I'm getting too old for this."

Confused Gwen questioned him. "I don't understand, what happened?"

"They tried to snipe you. The man stepped aside to give the sniper a clear shot."

"But no one shot me."

"Something must have messed up the plan. Good thing too, I didn't notice until it was too late to do anything."

Suddenly, the crack of gunfire caught their attention and they heard someone scream out.

"Here they come!"

Sarge took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles. "Here we go."

Gwen nodded grimly. "Let's make it hurt."

Sarge smiled. "With pleasure."


	13. Blood Soaked Sand

The first shot was instantly followed by an avalanche of gunfire. The air was so alive with whizzing metal that most of the Nordhagen militia wasn't bothering to return fire, but huddled behind cover, praying that they weren't cut in half by bullets. Red tried to shoot back but as soon as she poked her head above cover bullets would pass inches from her face, forcing her back into cover. In the brief window of time she had when she peeked out from the protection of cover, she tried to assess the position of the gunners.

Instead of slowly marching forward, as they had before, the gunners remained entrenched on the mainland as they fired at Nordhagen. _They learned something from last time._ Red thought to herself. The sudden 'hiss' of a rocket sent Red scrambling to put distance between herself and the wall. The 'hiss' passed over her head, followed by no explosion. A miss. Red sighed in relief. She turned back toward the wall.

It seemed that, despite the volume and fire, it was having very little effect. From her spot, she didn't see anyone seriously injured yet, and none of the walls were badly damaged. At that distance, they'd be lucky to hit anyone. When she had looked over the wall, she could barely see the outline of gunner mercenaries in the distance. As long as the radiation storm continued, accurate fire at a distance was almost impossible. With this amount of gunfire, though, some bullets were bound to hit their target's eventually.

A scream behind her seized her attention. A militiaman, who'd been manning one of the guard posts a moment before, was writhing on the ground with blood pouring from his shoulder. Red sprinted to him and plunged the needle of a stimpack into the injured shoulder. Once the stimpack was empty, she wrapped the injured shoulder with a bandage. The stimpack took effect quickly and the bleeding subsided along with the pain. The man nodded his thanks and picked up his dropped rifle as he rose to his feet.

Just as they both rose to their feet Red heard the 'hiss' of another rocket. Before she could react the militiaman knocked her to the ground. This time the 'hiss' was followed with the roar of an explosion. Near to them, a hole was violently ripped into the wall. The man who had pushed her to the ground was thrown through the air. He landed several feet away, dead, his body shredded by the blast. Although she was badly rattled, Red only had a few scratches.

Through the hole in the wall, she could see movement. Although their gunfire had continued, unabated, some gunners were moving toward the breach. Another hiss, another explosion, more screams. Somewhere, the gunners had destroyed another part of the wall. Red remained frozen in place on the ground, afraid that, if she moved, she would be cut to pieces.

Through the breach, she saw an explosion where the silhouette of a gunner used to be. A landmine placed before the battle. Similar explosions followed but each shadow of a gunner consumed an explosion was quickly replaced by another.

As Red lay on the ground, she realized that if she stayed there, she would be killed as soon as they reached the breach. Braving the gunfire, she shot to her feet and rushed back toward the center of Nordhagen.

"Monty! Now!" She screamed as she ran. amid the ceaseless gunfire, she heard a dull 'chunk' and saw a dark ball fly through the air past her, in the direction of the northern wall. Red looked over her shoulder to see the object land with a 'thud' halfway between the north wall and the mainland. A few figures halted their advance to stare at the strange object that had landed among them. Seconds later, a loud boom announced the death knell of several gunners. Red smiled with grim satisfaction. Fewer gunners to worry about now.

Within seconds she found Monty near the center of Nordhagen, loading another explosive into their makeshift catapult. In the distance, she heard another explosion and more screams. Likely a product from their other catapult launching an explosive at the bridge. Monty followed suite as soon as the explosive was securely in place. After she heard an explosion in the distance she turned her attention to Red.

"How's it going on the front lines?"

Red shook her head. "Not good. The wall has been breached in at least two places now. They're not messing around. They hitting us with everything."

"Perhaps we should signal-look out!" Monty suddenly pulled out her pistol and fired at something behind Red. Red instantly ducked behind a building and prepared to open fire. The gunner's body on the ground told her that was unnecessary. She turned to Monty who was wide-eyed and shaking. "I-I've never actually... I haven't..."

"Monty! Stay focused!"

Monty slowly turned toward Red and nodded. "Right." Her words were drawn out. "We should signal everyone to move to the barricades now."

"Right." Red pulled the flare gun from her belt and fired it into the air. "You going to be ok?"

Monty gulped as she glanced back at the body of the gunner she killed. "I think so."

Red wasn't convinced but, unfortunately, they didn't have time. She could already see the Nordhagen militiamen running toward them. Before the battle, they had built barricades in between the houses in the event they had to abandon the wall. Although outnumbered, the Nordhagen citizens were determined to fight for every inch of their home. Red checked her ammo and moved toward a nearby barricade. _This wasn't how I thought I was going to die._

* * *

On a tall building overlooking the battlefield, the gunner commander watched through a set of binoculars. From what he could make out through the thick, radioactive fog they seemed to be winning. The defenders were falling back and his men were pushing forward despite heavy losses. Good.

"Lieutenant!" He shouted.

"Yes, sir?"

"Send our best men in now. Nordhagen is at the breaking point. Now, we finish them."

"Yes, sir!" The man rushed to obey and the commander returned to his binoculars. He couldn't contain the grin on his face.

Almost. Just a little more.

"Commander!"

"What?" He growled at the interruption. It was the captain, looking very worried.

"We're being attacked from behind."

The commander shot to his feet. "What? By who? How many are attacking us?"

"Just one."

The commander's jaw dropped and his face went red. "One man is attacking us and you feel the need to bring this to my attention? Why can't you handle it yourself?" At this point, he was yelling at the top of his lungs. The captain, his face reddening as well, yelled back.

"Because it's the Wraith! He's cutting through the guards like butter! What do you plan to do about it?"

The commander felt the urge to beat the man senseless for his insubordination. He forced himself to calm down and think. He could countermand the order he had just given and send some of his crack troops to deal with the lone attacker, but no, the Nordhagen militia could potentially push the other men back. No. This 'Wraith' had been a thorn in his side for too long. He would handle this himself.

"Gather everyone that's left and tell them to follow me." He marched past the captain. "You too. We're ending this 'Wraith' here and now." The commander rushed down the stairs, yelling at everyone within shouting distance to follow him. The captain did the same and, within a few minutes, had found ten men. With these men at his back, the commander followed the captain to where the Wraith was last seen.

At the location, they found three dead gunners. One of the men inspected the corpses, crouching down to get a closer look.

"This one was shot in the head. This one had his throat slit. And this one had his head cut off." He rose to his feet and nervously scratched his head. A shot rang out, sending everyone into cover. An eery silence followed. Cautiously, the commander poked his head out from cover. The man who had been inspecting the bodies was dead. A single bullet hole in his head. The commander growled in anger.

"Come out and fight, coward!" He yelled into the mist. Silence. Then slow footsteps.

Everyone turned in the direction of the sound, guns ready. In the distance, a figure became visible in the green mist. At twenty feet away the figure halted. It stood in the open and held out its arms in a welcoming gesture. Then it spoke.

"You wanted me. Here I am."

The commander felt a slight chill run through him. Just the sound of it was painful. The voice reminded him of a deathclaw ripping at a body with its claws.

Lightning lit up the landscape, briefly illuminating the stranger's features: horrid, disfigured, and unnatural. What remained of the man's armor looked like it had melted onto his body. His face was so badly scarred that it barely appeared human. But it was human, the commander was sure of it. If it was standing in front of them they could kill it.

The commander glanced at his men. None of them had fired a single shot. They all just stared at the specter before them. A few looked like they were about to turn and run. Before any of them tried, he stood from his hiding place and fired three rounds from his pistol.

The figure staggered slightly but remained upright. Shaken from their stupor, the rest of the gunners opened fire as well. For several seconds, their gunfire drowned out the sounds of the storm around them. Quickly, each one emptied their clips. Silence fell and they stared in disbelief. The figure had fallen to his knees from the gunfire. The commander could hear his heavy breathing. After a few moments, the man stood back up and laughed.

* * *

Just when Gwen thought they had pushed the gunners back, another wave of attackers pushed them further back into the town. She forced herself not to look at the bodies of the dead as she fled to the last line of defense. She didn't want to see the face of someone who had once been someone she knew. She leaped over a barricade and ducked behind it. There was a lull in the gunfire, which provided a respite for the tired defenders. Safe for the moment, she took stock of her surroundings.

There weren't many people left to defend Nordhagen. Maybe a little over a dozen still fighting. Most of them had dried blood caked to their armor and their faces looked as pale as dead men. In the green glow of the storm, they were a most unpleasant sight.

"Gwen, are you injured?"

She glanced in the direction of the voice. It was Red, limping her way toward her.

"No, I'm fine. You look like you've seen better days though."

Red chuckled and sat down next to her. "Yep, but I'm still alive. Can't ask for more than that."

Gwen nodded. "True. Why don't you take a stimpack for your leg?"

Red grunted in pain as she examined her injury. A clean bullet wound right through her thigh, just missing the bone.

"I've already taken too much. Any more and I could have a heart attack. Besides, it's just a flesh wound. Nothing serious."

"How much have you had?"

Red briefly counted on her fingers. "Five? Six? I lost count."

"Well, that's... not good." Gwen looked around again. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Where's Sarge, Monty, and Jack?"

"Monty took a bad hit to her side. She fine, but out of the fight. Jack's taken a smoke break over there..." She motioned toward a small shack. "And Sarge I haven't seen in a while."

Gwen immediately felt a surge of panic. "Where did you last see him?" Red shrugged. "What's that supposed to mean?" Gwen snapped.

Red quickly raised a hand, defensively. "Hey! I don't know when I last saw him. This whole fight has been a bit of a blur. I barely remember where I've been the past couple of minutes. Much less where Sarge has been."

Gwen took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Getting angry isn't going to help.

Bullets ripped past them. The gunners were attacking again. The remnants of the Nordhagen militia leaped to action, firing back with what they had left. Gwen and Red looked at each other, grim realization both evident in their expressions. They both knew this was the end. They couldn't hold out against another attack.

"So this is how we die?" Red said to no one in particular.

"Everyone dies someday."

"I guess we just got to make it memorable."

"Agreed." Gwen stood up and unleashed her entire clip at the advancing gunners. "Let's make it memorable."

* * *

Why. Won't. You. Die? The commander and his men must have put three dozen bullets into the 'Wraith' yet he stubbornly refused to stay down. Every time they thought they had killed or seriously injured him, he would kill another gunner, laughing maniacally all the while. He can't be human. Even a super mutant couldn't shrug off that many bullets. Human or otherwise, the commander was running out of men.

Four of them were left, including himself. They stood back to back, eyes darting from side to side, trying to catch sight of the elusive killer.

"What do we do?" One of the soldiers whispered. The fear in his voice was painfully obvious.

"Stick together." The captain hissed back. "If we get separated he'll pick us off one by one.

"And if we stick together, we'll die together." The other soldier barked back angrily. "Got any better ideas?"

"Shut up!" The commander yelled.

"What's the matter, scared?" The voice of the Wraith echoed in the storm. All heads turned in the direction of the voice. A few seconds later, the voice came again from a different direction. "Tell you what, abandon your commander and I'll let the rest of you live. If you stay or return, I'll flay all of you alive!" Silence. For an agonizingly long minute, no one moved or spoke.

"Stay put." The commander whispered. "It's a trap to separate us. Stick together and..." He whirled around at the sound of panicked footsteps. The two soldiers had bolted. He stared in disbelief then looked at the captain. The captain glanced at him, then at the direction the men had fled, then back to him. "Don't" The commander breathed. The captain gave a brief 'I'm sorry' expression before sprinting after the two men. "Coward!" The commander's rage overwhelmed his previous fear. In his fury, he leveled his gun's sights on the captain's back.

His hands screamed in pain as his gun was violently ripped from his grip. A rock had sailed through the heavy fog and struck his gun before he could fire a shot. Growling in pain, he glared in the direction it had come from. There, only a few feet away was the Wraith.

"This is between you and me, now."

"Why?" The commander asked as he massaged his stinging hands. "Why are you gunning for us so hard? Whatever we did to make you hate us so much, it wasn't personal! It was just business."

The Wraith was close enough that he could see his lips curl into a snarl. "With your kind, it's always personal."

"Fine! Have it your way!" The commander's hand shot into his side pouch and pulled out his last resort. X-cell. The most powerful pre-war performance enhancer that he was aware of. He quickly inhaled it and felt the effects immediately. The Wraith chuckled.

"Finally. A challenge."

The commander, now fully taken over by the drug, bellowed a war cry and charged the Wraith. As soon as he got close the Wraith hit three times in rapid succession. First the head. Then the stomach. Then the chin. High on the drug, the commander felt nothing and replied with a flurry of blows. One connected, hitting the Wraith in the face. He too didn't seem to feel the impact. The Wraith hit him the face repeatedly, breaking the commander's nose.

This time the commander felt it and his vision went red. It just made him angrier. He threw as many punches as he could, abandoning any attempts to protect himself from the Wraith's counters. His foe tried dodging but he couldn't evade all of them. The Wraith staggered under the assault. The commander, seeing an opportunity, kicked him hard in the chest. The Wraith flew back and landed hard. But when the commander rushed to strangle him he was kicked hard in the face, sending him staggering back.

The Wraith shot up. Before the commander could recover he picked him up by his collar and threw him against a wall. Breathing heavily, he wiped the blood from his face as the commander stood up. The two fighters glared at each other like two predators, both waiting for the other to make a move. Slowly, they circled, waiting and watching. When the commander stumbled slightly the Wraith lunged forward. A right hook, then a left. A head butt, then an uppercut. The commander reeled but pushed back. A knee to the stomach, then a quick jab.

Quickly the fight devolved into the two grappling with each other, each trying to throw the other off his feet. As they struggled, faces inches from the other, the Wraith smiled.

'Click.'

The Commander glanced in the direction of the sound. In the Wraith's left hand was a Nuka-grenade. The pin was gone.

"No!"

* * *

Gwen fired the last slug from her shotgun. Before she could reload a gunner rushed her, holding his gun like a club. She responded by cracking him across the face with the butt of her gun then kicking him in the head for good measure. Quickly, she reloaded. The militia was holding, but only just.

Several bullets hit her armor, but all ricochet, leaving her unharmed. She quickly saw the gunner responsible and fired twice. He went down. She'd lost track of how many she had killed. Six? Eight? A dozen? It felt pointless, though. No matter how many died, more kept coming. But Nordhagen was still standing and that thought gave her hope.

She had thought the last attack would be the one to wipe that would kill her but surprisingly, she was still alive. As quickly as it had come it strangely appeared to run out of steam. The gunners were fighting less fiercely too as if their resolve was suddenly fading. Seeing an opportunity, Gwen had ordered her militia to push forward and retake lost ground. To everyone's surprise, the gunners had started to fall back.

"Keep pushing!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "Drive them out of our town!" There were a dozen shouts in response.

"For Nordhagen!"

"No Mercy!"

"Give it to them!"

Gwen noticed a gunner aiming at her. Before she could respond he collapsed with a bullet hole in his head. Jack appeared in her peripheral vision with a smoking revolver and a cocky grin.

"Still a crack shot after all these years." After giving Gwen a cheery wave he moved on. She continued moving forward as well. She made it a few feet before she stopped. A gunner in front of her was thrown into the side of a building. Sarge appeared next and proceeded to beat the man with his bare hands. Once satisfied, he looked up and saw Gwen.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Where have you been?"

"Trapped in a shack. Just managed to get out." The gunner beneath him groaned. Sarge kicked him in the head, silencing him. "Looks like we might make it through this alive." He noted.

"Sure looks that way," Gwen said as she began to walk toward him. An ominous hissing sound made her freeze. It took her half a second to register what it was: a rocket. She saw the realization on Sarge's face as well. He started moving and opened his mouth to speak. Then he disintegrated.

The blast launched Gwen off her feet and sent her flying back several yards. For a moment, everything went black and silent. She felt nothing, she heard nothing. Slowly, she came to. The silence was replaced with a loud ringing in her ears. With great effort, she managed to open her eyes.

The first thing she saw was the sky. Surprisingly, it was clearing up. The green clouds that had moments ago dominated the horizon were dispersing. She carefully pulled herself to her feet, though her muscles ached as she did. Her eyes were drawn to the spot she had last seen Sarge. There was nothing left of him there. The only evidence of his fate was the still smoking crater in the ground.


	14. Endings and Beginnings

Death. Death was everywhere. No matter where Gwen walked to escape it, it was always staring up at her.

The remaining gunners had fled. Nordhagen was saved. There would be no celebration, though. As soon as the gunners were gone the militia was left with the horrid task of tending the wounded and gathering the dead. The death toll was high. Two-thirds of those who defended Nordhagen were dead. The rest were either wounded or badly shaken by the experience.

Gwen was one of the latter. She tried to help tend the wounded but she could barely keep herself together. Her hands constantly shook and she regularly felt on the verge of tears or puking violently. Eventually, she couldn't stand it anymore and walked away to find somewhere she could be alone. She settled for one of the guard posts overlooking the main gate. As soon as she stood at the top she burst into tears. In between sobs she removed her mask and helmet.

_Gone. They're gone._ Gwen collapsed under the weight of her grief. She buried her head in her hands. First Alec, now Sarge. Dead. It was if the entire world was falling apart and she could do nothing to hold it together. All she could do was weep.

At this moment, Gwen wished she was anything but the mayor. Everyone that had died in the defense of Nordhagen had been someone she had known. She hadn't known all of them well, but she had known them. How could she face those that had lived? How could she face the families that had lost someone? Would they even let her stay? Everyone that died had done so under her leadership. Maybe they'd drive her out of Nordhagen in anger or worse kill her in revenge.

_The gunners lost but did we win? Is this even a victory?_

Gwen didn't know how long she sat in the guard post crying. She stayed there until no more tears came. Exhausted, she forced her aching body to stand. She looked up into the sky. High noon. Normally the town would be gathering for lunch but she doubted anyone had an appetite. She certainly did not. She turned her gaze to the mainland. She couldn't face the town, not yet.

With the radiation-storm passed it was surprisingly quiet. The only noise was the ocean gently beating against the sand. The sound had a calming effect on Gwen. It always had. Feeling a little better, she turned toward the town.

A figure appeared on the mainland at the edge of her peripheral vision. Instinctively, she reached for her sidearm, afraid that the gunners had returned. She quickly relaxed though, even at a distance the figure looked nothing like a gunner. She peered at the figure intently. It looked familiar.

The figure had stopped where the buildings on the mainland ended. For almost a minute he remained there, still as a statue. Eventually, he began walking toward the main gate.

Gwen continued to watch him as he moved closer. As the distance closed between them her eyes bulged and her mouth fell agape. _Impossible._ She wiped her eyes and looked again. The man was still there. She shook her head and pinched herself. He remained.

"Ma'am," A voice came from behind, "We need some help with the-"

Gwen bolted from the guard post, knocking over the militiaman in her haste.

"Sorry!" She shouted as she flew past. Within seconds she left Nordhagen and was racing across the bridge toward the man walking toward her from the opposite direction. _It is him! _

In the center of the bridge, both of them halted. Only two feet separating them.

The man was in battered armor. Some of it looked like it was barely staying on his body. Half of his helmet was blown away, partially exposing his scarred face and jet-black eyes. In the quiet afternoon, she could hear his distinct labored breathing. Gwen tried to think of something to say, but her mind came up blank.

The man slowly proceeded to remove his shattered helmet and mask, wincing in pain as he did. When he finally managed to remove them he dropped them to the ground, never taking his eyes off of her. Fresh blood dripped down his face but he didn't bother to wipe it away.

Instead, he continued to remove his battered armor. Some came off easily and quickly. Other parts took several minutes to remove, causing his face to twist and contort in pain as he did. Blood dripped from several parts of his body as fresh wounds were reopened. Once he removed the last bit he wiped the blood from his face.

"Gwen," Alec said.

Gwen instantly wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. After a moment of shock, he reciprocated. They remained locked together for almost a minute before they pulled away for air.

"How?" Gwen asked breathlessly.

Alec's scarred broke into a smile. "It's a long story." He tapped on her armor. "I like your look."

"Yours could use some work." She said as she traced her hand along his dirty face.

Alec laughed quietly. "No doubt." His face then turned serious. "I have a lot to tell you."

"And to tell us." Came a gravelly voice from the direction of Nordhagen. The two of them looked in its direction and saw Jack and Monty standing at the gate, along with many other shocked onlookers. Gwen felt a smile creep onto her lips as she led Alec by the hand toward them. "Figures you'd be too stubborn to die," Jack noted as he held out his hand, which Alec shook. Monty hugged him, tears of joy pouring down her cheek.

"Thank God you're alive." She said. Alec comfortingly patted her on the shoulder.

Many other townsfolk came forward to speak with him. Their words were a mix of thanks, awe, and questions regarding his survival. Alec politely waved them away, explaining he was very tired and wished to rest. As the crowd moved to give him space one individual stepped in front of him. Red. She held out her hand. Alec grasped it firmly.

"I'm glad you're not dead."

"So am I."

Red chuckled. "Is that a joke? Did your near-death experience give you a sense of humor?"

Alec shrugged. "Perhaps."

Red shook her head, smiling. She gave him a quick hug before allowing him to pass.

As Gwen led Alec to the town hall she heard him whisper under his breath.

"Finally home."

Alec's return was a bright spot in the otherwise dark days after the Second Battle of Nordhagen. The survivors slowly repaired the damage and rebuilt their lives.

After Alec recovered and Monty reconfigured the Slayer Armor 2.0 for his use, he spent much of his time helping the town recover. Even though he would still leave every once and a while to hunt raiders his trips were short and few.

Red continued her training under his tutelage and accompanied him on many of his trips. Although she tried to integrate herself into Nordhagen she never felt quite at home. Alec seemed to understand and helped her any way he could. Eventually, she became a new 'Raider Slayer', very much feared in the Commonwealth, known under the name 'The Red Death.'

Gwen, for her part, continued to lead Nordhagen as its mayor. She worked tirelessly to make it an oasis amid the miserable wasteland the Commonwealth often was. Alec was her greatest supporter and confidant.

"Nordhagen should serve as an example to the rest of the Commonwealth" Alec would say not long after the Second Battle of Nordhagen, "It is proof that when good people stand united, evil men can be beaten."

An Interview with the Raider Slayer

by Piper

Piper leaned back in her chair as she finished the article. It was a fantastic story. Well worth the trip to Nordhagen to get it. The Raider Slayer was like the heroes in the Pre-war comics brought to life and an interview had been too enticing of an opportunity to pass up. She had wanted an interview for some time but had never been able to meet him, until recently.

Honestly, she had been surprised he had agreed to an interview. Everything she had heard about him before told her that he rarely talked with anyone if he could help it. Much to her delight, though, he had sat down with her and spoke at length about his life. He did appear to be holding back some details from her, mostly surrounding why he always wore armor or how he exactly began as 'Raider Slayer,' but otherwise, he was quite open about his past.

Piper grabbed her pages and walked them to her press. _I wonder what story could top this one?_ She thought to herself. It would be a challenge to beat this one, but it was a challenge she was willing to accept.


End file.
